


Property of Sanji

by Unda



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, M/M, Mystery, Psychological Drama, Rape/Non-con References, Romance, Slash, threat of non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-22
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-10 11:55:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 183,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/465997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unda/pseuds/Unda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Zoro isn't even a person any more can he ever be free or manage to do anything more than just survive? He should have known that he'd be bought eventually but this... isn't what he'd expected. Zosan, updated weekly. All comments, thoughts and wild-mass-guessings welcome!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He stands tall and powerful on the battlefield, Wado vibrates with power in his hand and her sisters respond in kind with a hum of energy. He will be the greatest and this is just another step on the road to that goal. He moves gracefully from one sword stance to another, smooth with the hours and year of his life spent practicing. He pulls his swords back ready to strike-

“Na, Zoro, you’re beeping.” Luffy’s sleepy voice cuts through to him, the dream dissolving around him like mist, taking his precious swords with it.

He opens his bleary eyes and takes in Luffy’s upside down face, the brim of his hat not quite obscuring Zoro’s view of Luffy’s stained poorly repaired ceiling. There are splotches of food on the ceiling, a testament to food frenzies past, there are also scorch marks from Ace’s enthusiasm with fire and oddly there’s also a pen jammed halfway through the ceiling fan. Zoro has no idea how that got there.

He rolls over on Luffy’s badly sprung sofa and groans as he buries his face in the cushion that smells vaguely of feet and rubber. Another round of the irritating beeping issues from the vicinity of his neck.

“It’s been going on for hours, it’s annoying.” Luffy whines, poking him in the head. Zoro growls at that, Luffy isn’t the one stuck with the infernal thing all the time. His fingers find the button on the collar around his neck by memory. The collar itself is stiff and hard but the inside is soft-ish, it feels somewhat like suede leather inside but is actually some kind of synthetic electrically wired thing. Its hard surface on the outside is pressing uncomfortably into the veins of his neck as he lies down even now, but hey, the things weren’t built for his comfort. As he presses the button an electronic voice booms in his head through the cochlear implant in his skull. 

“RORONOA ZORO you are off of the institute’s property, this is forbidden you are ordered to-” Zoro cuts that message short. He’s heard it a million times with it’s electronically generated approximation of his name, it plays whenever he sneaks off of the institute’s grounds and it won’t stop alerting him regularly until he returns. After deleting that message a message from Chopper kicks in.

“MESSAGE RECEIVED AT 10:31 PM. Zoro! Please get back as soon as you can, it’s very important. Something very urgent has happened and we need you back tonight!” Chopper sounds anxious. He was already drinking pretty heavily with Luffy at that time last night and, oh yeah, that was about the time they fell into the river and he had to rescue Luffy from drowning himself, AGAIN.

“MESSAGE RECEIVED AT 11:15 PM. Zoro! Where are you? We need you back here now! Call me!” Chopper’s voice is even more anxious now. Ah, at that point they’d run into Ace and Marco. He remembers that Marco had been fiddling with his collar out of curiosity so he might have muted that message.

“MESSAGE RECEIVED AT 11:45 PM. This isn’t funny asshole! I could lose my job if you keep this up!! Come back!” Chopper squawks. Ah… at about half eleven Ace had decided to start buying shots for everyone and things got a little fuzzy at that point. He knows that he got back to the D brothers house about one or so… he must have been beeping the whole way there. He really shouldn’t find that noise so easy to tune out especially when it plays out loud and inside his head. 

“MESSAGE RECEIVED AT 5:15 AM. Zoro please, it’s morning now! Come back!” Chopper pleads again, sounding like he’s barely slept all night, probably worrying. Zoro feels a little guilty about that. 

There are about ten more increasingly frantic messages from the little doctor after that, they all seem to be saying the same thing so he skips them all. He probably shouldn’t have found it as easy as he did to sleep through the beeping.

He deletes the last message and the beeping stops. Luffy sighs in relief and flops onto Zoro’s back with a happy sigh. Zoro huffs a laugh and shoves his friend’s rubbery body off of him. He doesn’t know what Luffy is complaining about, the rubber boy is almost as deep a sleeper as he is, and he has his own room with a door unlike Zoro who almost always spends the night when he’s at their house sleeping on the sofa. 

“I’d better get back, it sounds pretty serious.” Zoro sighs standing up. 

“Aw.” Luffy pouts from Zoro’s feet where he sits propped up on his elbows, his hat hanging from the string around his neck that Nami made. 

“Shaddap, you know I’d rather not go back. But you know how insistent the institute gets when it’s “urgent”, if I piss them off then it’ll be ages until I can sneak off again and come back here.” He sighs jabbing Luffy slightly with his bare foot. He wiggles his toes in Luffy’s side which sets the raven haired boy off into a small giggle fit.

“Don’t go back.” Luffy says in a serious tone, catching his foot and looking up at him with his big brown eyes. Zoro looks away, it’s easier when he doesn’t have to see that expression. Luffy says the same thing every time Zoro has to leave and each time it’s harder to say no. Only the thought of the horror which overhangs him if he were to be recaptured after escaping dissuades him, nothing is worth that risk.

“See you in a few days.” Zoro says with a smile and ruffles his hand through Luffy’s hair before plopping the famous straw hat back in its place.

He ignores Luffy’s “aw” and shoves his boots on before walking quickly back out onto the street. He shoves his hands in his pockets and hunches his shoulders up as he walks briskly back towards the institute, ever aware of his conspicuous black collar and the empty ring on it just by his jugular.

He walks fast enough so that by the time anyone sees his empty collar and realises what’s going on he’s already into the distance, it’s a speed and method of walking that he’s perfected over the years. He doesn’t slow down his pace as he gets into the more middle class area and out of the poor area that Luffy and Ace live in. He knows far too well that money is no indicator of moral standing, far from it. The area that he’s in now is centred more around small businesses and invention and less around the mining and industry that Luffy and Ace live and work in. 

He glances up in the sky and sees a flying car whizz overhead, it’s a fancy one too, one that runs on clean energy instead of the smoggy land based things that they have down here. It’s heading in the direction of the institute, which dampens his spirits even further than the messages did. It means that someone in the institute has been selected. He touches the empty ring on his collar as a mark of respect for the poor unlucky person, it’s tradition that they all have. There aren’t many people left in the institute that Zoro knows all that well or even likes, which at his age is more a self preservation instinct than it is a comment on his fellow prisoners, but it’s still sad to see that someone’s being taken. 

He can see it now, it’s the tallest building around here but he can tell that he’s not far from the institute, or as it is properly named “The Royal Institute of Harmony”, or as Zoro prefers to think of it “the institute of tyranny”. The large grounds it is set in look more like a university than a place of terror. The main body of the institute is reserved for the library and teaching rooms along with the gym, a ballroom and various administration offices. The large sky scraping tower next to it is both a security facility and the main dormitories. The younger that you are the higher up the building you live, slowly descending as you age. Zoro is on the second floor from the bottom now which is helpful for when you need to jump out of your window to sneak off the grounds. 

He reaches the tall walls that surround the institute, the walls that are supposed to keep strangers and poachers out and keep him in, they’re not very successful at that last part. He climbs up the tall tree by the wall and climbs up until the branches get too spindly for his weight, he’s climbed too high before and fallen from a snapped branch. He didn’t break anything in that fall thankfully but it’s not an experience that he wishes to repeat. He leaps from the tree to the wall and drops down the other side. He lands by one of the guard dog houses, they’re trained to bark whenever they see anyone but lots of meat snuck from his dinners and lots of belly rubs have trained them to like him. The purebred guard dog trots up to him with its tail wagging happily.

“Who’s a good boy?” He whispers to the dog and scratches it solidly behind the ear before jumping and bouncing from the outer wall to the inner wall of the institute and dropping over that one. He’s now properly in the grounds of the institute. Stealthily he jogs across the grounds hoping to avoid detection from the guards. The clock reads ten past ten so classes are in session right now. 

He sneaks into the main building, he shouldn’t run into anyone now, most people are in their classes like good little inmates, or else they’re ditching class somewhere sensible. He and Nami found all of the good places to hide years ago when they were just kids, in fact there’s someone in one of his old hiding spots in the rafters now. He looks up, the boy is no more than fourteen. He looks down solemnly at Zoro and touches his own collar, Zoro nods and does the same, the boy must have seen the car too.

He jogs down the corridor towards Chopper’s office, his route takes him past the classroom that he’s supposed to be in, it’s Tuesday morning so it’s behaviour class right now. He stopped attending that class years and years ago and he’s never once regretted it. He pauses out of a morbid sense of curiosity and glances around the edge of the glass window in the door. He peeks through the window in the door and the wave of disgust that washes over him is more than enough to reaffirm to him that he’s never going to attend that class. One of his fellow residents is on his knees at the front of the class blowing the teacher whilst the lecture continues. Sickened Zoro leaves the hallways and heads straight to Chopper’s office.

He slows down in the hallways and shoulders the door to Chopper’s office without even having to read the door, because he’s in there so often. He comes to a grinding halt in the doorway though when he clocks the figure in the chair before Chopper’s desk. She’s tall and slender with long poker straight black hair. Around her shoulders is a fancy expensive looking white coat which matches the brilliantly white cowboy style hat on her head. She turns in her seat and looks up at him through thick dark lashes. Her blue eyes unnerve him, it’s as if she can see into his soul. Her smile is predatory and sets his teeth on edge. 

“Oh Zoro! Thank goodness that you’re finally here, this is Lady Nico Robin.” Chopper says enthusiastically in his highly strung panic. 

“Pleased to meet you.” The woman smiles up at him. 

There’s a pause that settles upon the small office as the truth sinks heavily onto Zoro’s shoulders, weighing down his very soul.

“You’re here for me.” He hears himself say in a dead voice. So the flying car wasn’t coming for one of his fellows then, it was for him. That explains why the small boy saluted him directly, the picture of all selected residents is broadcast in a overly saccharine cheery announcement. 

“Oh, no. You’re not for me personally, you’re to be bonded to Sir Sanji Prince. Are you excited?” The Lady Robin says with a small curious smile.

Zoro’s hands snap into fists at his sides. These rich self important sociopaths! She thinks that he should be excited over this? Like some schoolgirl asked to the prom by her crush?!

“Excited?! I’d be more excited to have my head cut off, actually no, I’d much prefer it if it was your head being-” Zoro snarls vehemently.

“ZORO!” Chopper interrupts him in horror. Zoro clenches his jaw shut and holds his tongue, but he can feel the tension dancing in his face. He won’t apologise, not matter what Chopper says. The rich bitch doesn’t even look threatened or offended, instead she looks amused, as if a pet has just done a rather interesting trick.

“Lady Robin, I’m so incredibly sorry, Zoro really isn’t like this, he’s a lovely man and-” Chopper babbles apologetically to her.

“It’s quite alright doctor. Zoro and Sanji will get on like a house on fire, I’m sure of it.” She grins, looking pleased with herself.

Zoro grits his teeth, he’d like to set her and this Sanji bastard on fire and lock THEM inside a house. Robin stands and arranges her bag on her back and brushes the wrinkles free of her coat as if she were doing something so stress free as having a pleasant afternoon tea with him and Chopper. 

“Anyway, Sir Sanji’s father’s servants will be here to pick you up soon, I’m sure they’ll be delighted to hear that you’ve only just turned up. I’m just here to pick up the necessary legal papers of transfer. But I shall see you before the ceremony this afternoon.” Robin says smoothly, her glossy smile widening as she speaks as if something very funny has occurred to her.

“This afternoon?!” He balks in horror.

“Yes, two thirty to be precise, thank you for these doctor.” The lady nods as she scoops the paperwork off of Chopper’s desk and leaves. 

The door shuts behind Zoro and he swallows thickly.

“It’s going to be okay Zoro, he’s a really great guy, you’ll like him.” Chopper says hesitantly.

“I HATE him, and you betrayed me! I trusted you!” He shouts at the little reindeer. Chopper’s eyes well up with tears but Zoro refuses to feel bad, Chopper has quite literally sold him out. 

He is so so pissed at Chopper for betraying him. And what he really wants when he storms out of the little doctors office is to run off to the gym and beat the shit out of one of the heavy bags there until he feels a little better. What he does instead is nearly trip over the six technicians that were waiting outside of Chopper’s door for him.

“Where have you been?!” One of them demands angrily, as they drag him away to their section of the building. 

“Do you know how many hours we usually get to prep you before the client’s team gets a hold of you? Now we don’t even have half that, and for Sir Prince too…” Another frets as they shove him into a seat.

Zoro could fight them, but it wouldn’t get him anywhere, they wouldn’t go away and they wouldn’t stop. They’d just do whatever they felt the need to do to him with him unconscious. They squawk over the state of him, apparently he’s been supposed to be doing something with his skin or whatever. He’s never cared. The most effort that he’s ever put into his appearance is shaving every so often and working out, and he works out for the strength and because he enjoys it, looking good is just a result of that. 

They scrub him and shave him and buff every inch of his exposed skin before throwing him in a shower and do their best to scrub his skin raw with brushes and soap. They file his nails and pluck at his eyebrows.

Zoro doesn’t care, he ignores them and pretends that he’s somewhere else. He tries to imagine that he’s back at Luffy’s and they’re hanging out. It doesn’t work though, his mind keeps coming back to the grim reality of his situation. The history of how Zoro came to be in his position is academically interesting for those wealthy enough to never risk it happening to them. 

There have always been rich people and there have always been poor people. The ultra rich people however are a relatively new thing that had developed since industry took hold, people who have so much money that they couldn’t even spend it in a lifetime. 

A hundred years or so ago some bright spark of a servant came up with a supposedly brilliant idea whilst he was looking for work. He drew up a contract which exchanged his free will for a lifetime contract of work and higher pay. He effectively sold himself into slavery for security. He vowed to be loyal to whomever signed his contract and to carry out any and all talks asked of him in complete confidentiality. The idea took off with the ultra rich like a storm, they were vulnerable to staff learning their secrets and selling them to someone else, they needed people that they could trust. Owning a member of staff for life was an ideal solution, and if you had to pay a little more than that was no great strain.

By the time the lawyers got interested in the matter there were already thousands of slaves, for both private people and public institutions. The lawyers argued that one couldn’t just sell oneself into slavery. However the ultra rich and their highly paid lawyers argued that every person owned themselves as a person and everyone could sell their own property without restriction from the government. The lawyers, after a lot of fat bribes, agreed. And in one stroke of a pen the status of all slaves changed, they had not simply signed a contract for their time, but their freedom and personhood too. And because they were no longer people in their own right, having sold that privilege, they become un-entitled to all the rights that went with being a person, they became sub-human.

Shortly after that the Royal Institute of Harmony sprang up specialising in two things. First of all convincing people to sell themselves to the institute who would in turn train them to do any and all tasks their eventual owners might require of them whilst providing housing and education, and secondly they offered a service to anyone with enough money to afford it. That service was to provide a ready made human being with enough training, culture and most importantly a lack of free will, to be a perfect partner. It was an idea situation, instead of trophy wives who might divorce you and take your money you got someone who would and could never divorce you, had no claim on your property and best of all you could do whatever you wanted to them! Have a sadistic streak a mile wide? No problem! Got a penchant for meek wallflowers with delicate features? They were the institute’s bread and butter!

People, for various reasons, sold themselves to the institute quite young. The institute owned them for a time before eventually selling them on at a highly marked up price to someone else. Most slaves got bought from the institute at age sixteen, the moment they would have been legal if they’d still been people. Other institutions didn’t limit themselves like that, but the royal one did, it was the only good thing that Zoro could say about them and was part of why they had such good PR. They made these shiny happy adverts as if they were some kind of true match soul mate service instead of organised human trafficking. 

There were only two reasons why Zoro had survived until nineteen without being sold, firstly being a man only interested in men limited his field of prospective buyers and secondly he was difficult. He made it his mission to be as surly and unlikable as possible whilst, under Chopper’s guidance, still being good enough to not attract the sadists that liked to break strong willed slaves- sorry “mates”. The institute carried out a “matching” procedure and Zoro had studied the forms long enough to try to make himself tick boxes different enough that no one should have been interested. It looked like they’d found some weirdo who was compatible enough for him though. 

The ceremony that Zoro was attending later was little more than an elaborate sales transaction. The institute would sell him to this Prince character and he would belong to him for the rest of his life. 

It takes the technicians a good two hours of frantic work and tripping over each other to scrub, shave and pluck him into a more pleasing piece of merchandise that they seem at least halfway pleased with. After that he is handed over to the Prince’s servants. It’s a man and a woman that are waiting for him, the woman is thin and blonde whilst the man has a weird rectangular nose and blonde hair as well, Zoro wonders if they’re related. He discovers that their names are Kalifa and Kaku, not that they introduce themselves to mere property like him. They bicker constantly with the driver who has a stupid wispy little kung-fu man moustache and apparently goes by the name of Jabra. Zoro sinks lower in his seat in the car, unable to enjoy his first ride in such a high tech vehicle. 

When they arrive at the venue, which could frankly only be described as a castle, he is bundled out of the flying car and herded into a large room where a large selection of fancy clothes are waiting for him. The two of them strip him down again and toss his clothes away with disgust, Zoro doesn’t really care, he’s used by now to being nude in front of an array of doctors, professors and technicians, these two clowns don’t exactly make him shy. The two of them shove him into some hideous red and white outfit that’s more kimono than it is a suit, though manages to look like a horrible hybrid between the two. It’s shiny and uncomfortable with boning in it jabbing painfully into his sides. 

Kalifa takes out his beloved earrings right out of his ear and throws them on onto the floor across the room deeming them too “cheap” to wear. Zoro feels his hackles raise a little inside at that, they’re gold. Not a high quality gold it’s true, but they’re the only thing that he still owns from back when he was a person, the institute let him keep them because they thought it added to his “exotic appeal”, whatever the hell that meant. 

They then proceed to force him into some uncomfortable shoes and cover any remaining exposed skin in white paint, practically erasing any sign that he’s a real person under there and not some overgrown china doll. He supposes that’s fitting, the more they do to him the less he feels like himself under there. They paint his eyes and mouth red and cut and straighten his hair into what Kalifa apparently considers an “edgy” style. Finally pleased with their work they order him to stay there until they call for him and leave, locking the door behind themselves and trapping him in the room. 

He stands hopelessly in the middle of the lavish room on his own. The events of the day thus far have mostly washed over him with him observing everything with a sense of detachment that Zoro can more accurately attribute to shock rather than any mental strength on his part. But now as he stands alone the reality of everything sets in. He’s been supposedly training for this for years but he doesn’t in any way feel prepared for the reality of his life from this point on as the property of a specific person rather than an unwilling inmate of an institution. A bubble of hysteria rises in him and he feels like he can’t breathe, he doesn’t know if it’s from the panic or the too tightly laced waist of the… of whatever the hell he’s wearing is called. 

Trying to calm himself he leans unsteadily against the vanity table, his natural sense of balance thrown off by the shoes and the boning in the outfit. He looks in the mirror at himself and doesn’t recognise himself at all, all he sees is a painted mask.

“I thought that this might happen, I barely even recognise you under there.” A voice by the other side of the room says. He jumps and turns, nearly spraining his ankle in the process. It’s that dark haired woman Robin from before. She’s standing over by the windows, on the opposite side of the room from the door. He swears that he didn’t hear the door open, it was locked after all, and he certainly didn’t see her walk behind him in the mirror. So how did she…?

She’s dressed differently to how she was before, now she’s in a long floor length dress that clings to her and reflects purple in the light. It probably costs more than Luffy’s entire house. The lady bends and plucks his three gold earrings from the floor and saunters over to him, her wide feminine hips moving in an almost snakelike manner.

“How about we make you look a little more like yourself, hm?” She says pressing the earrings into his palm and folding his fingers over them. He swallows slowly and nods, making the raven-haired woman smile.

“We haven’t got long, go wash that stuff off of your skin.” She instructs him as she ushers him into a bathroom. There’s no shower in this place but there is a sink and Zoro doesn’t need to be told twice, not when it means getting out of this thing. He rips off the hideous red and white jacket and is able to reach back behind himself to snag at the ties to the thing around his midsection, he scrabbles desperately at the lacing until the entire thing comes free and he’s able to peel it off of himself like a horrible cocoon. He kicks the shoes from his feet and smirks as they clatter into the corner. 

With liberal amounts of soap, water and acrobatics with the sink he manages to scrub the horrid white paint from his skin, starting with his feet and hands before moving onto his neck and face. It takes a lot of careful attention to make sure that he’s not left any trace of it and then, just to be sure, he soaps up his hair with the hand soap and rinses that under the tap too. He stands up dripping, his own features and golden skin shining back at him in the mirror. He quickly and efficiently puts his earrings back in their place and exits the bathroom to find Robin standing there with a rack of suits that wasn’t there before. The door to the room appears to still be shut and locked, how the hell did she get those in here? When she sees him though she smiles and it seems genuine.

“Much better, now, let’s fix that hair.” She says and beckons him into a chair. An extra pair of hands appears in a flurry of petals on the side of the chair, making him jump as she uses them to wrap a cloth around him.

“You… you’re a devil’s fruit user.” He comments relaxing a little as he watches her disembodied hands closely. Across the room three more hands appear, two of them flicking through the suit rack and the other with a critical eye in its palm watching. Robin takes the clippers in her own normal hands though and powers them on.

“You’ve seen others like me before, and not just your little doctor friend with the antlers.” She says in something that is more a statement than a question. His mind springs to Luffy and Ace.

“Yeah, friends of mine.” He agrees as Robin runs the clippers through his hair, evening the length up to something normal and smart looking and erasing the stupid asymmetric cut that the other two had put in it. 

“I knew you had a voice still under there somewhere. Done. Now, to find something for you to wear that doesn’t make you look like you belong in a circus.” She smiles wryly at him and makes her way over to the suits.

Robin and her disembodied hands flick through the suits, occasionally holding something up against him with a careful eye. The one that Zoro eventually likes catches his eye before it does Robin’s. He’s never really liked suits before, they’ve always seemed too confining, but something about the cut of this one seems nice. It’s a soft matte black fabric that reflects no light which joins together low on his chest with two gold buttons.

“Hey-” He says without thinking, reaching for it.

“Hmm, very nice. Here, let me find you a shirt to go with that.” Robin smiles at him. Zoro hesitates with the trousers to the suit in his hands. What Kalifa forced him into doesn’t really have enough fabric that isn’t see through to be termed underwear in Zoro’s mind and really he’d rather not wear it. With a shrug he takes them off and decides that he’s better off without them. If Robin is fazed by his complete nudity she doesn’t show it and simply holds a white shirt up to his chest with a displeased noise before putting it back and selecting another with a more open neck and a smaller collar. As she’s discarding that replacement shirt too Zoro slides into the trousers which fit like a dream, the material is soft on his skin, all of his skin, and they sit comfortably on his hips. 

Robin then passes him a crisp white shirt that she apparently likes, it pleases him too, it’s simple and classy without being frilly or over elaborate. He slides into that and tucks it neatly into the suit trousers. With a hum of thought Robin mutters “green…” and whips a green silk sash around his waist, covering the line where his shirt and trousers meet. It’s a shiny emerald colour and Zoro does know the name for what she’s turning it into… it’s a… a come-her… something? Cumberland? No… wasn’t that a sausage? Whatever, it looks good.

He toes on an expensive looking pair of black shiny shoes that are just his size and wonders again how Robin got all of this stuff. Standing up and leaving that mystery unsolved he shrugs on the jacket which sits neatly on his large shoulders and Robin does up the gold buttons for him. 

He turns to look at his reflection but before he can get to the mirror Robin grabs his chin. She pulls something small and gold from her purse and swipes her thumb through it. Delicately she runs her thumb over his cheekbones, just under his eyebrows and over his lips. With a satisfied smile she turns him to the mirror and lets him take in his reflection.

Whatever Robin did when she touched him has left traces of golden dust on his skin. It emphases his high cheekbones, brings out the gold flecks in his dark eyes and altogether makes him look ethereal, godly almost.

A sense of panic floods him as a knock hits the door, he doesn’t want to look this good, he doesn’t want to give this Prince guy the impression that he wants to be here or please him. In his panic Robin somehow disappears again, taking the rack of suits with her somehow. Before he can look for her though the door bangs open framing within it a large man wearing a top hat who’s goatee almost looks like some kind of musical note, on his shoulder there’s a goddamn dove. His eyes narrow in something between rage and disgust.

“KALIFA!” He snaps, turning and looking out the door. Kalifa and Kaku come in the room and both regard him with surprise and horror.

“I don’t- that’s not how we left him! I don’t know where he even got-” Kaku stammers clearly as perplexed at Zoro’s outfit change as he is about how Robin got herself and the clothes in and out.

“I don’t CARE! This isn’t what the boss wanted!” The guy snarls.

“It doesn’t matter Lucci, there’s no time to fix it now, and Lord Spandam is almost here.” Kalifa says matter-of-factly. At that moment a lavender haired guy bursts through the door with some kind of… leather mask on his face. He looks at Zoro and literally howls with rage. For a panicked moment Zoro thinks that this guy is the one he’s being sold to until his rationality calms him down. He reminds himself that the technicians were going on about how the Prince guy was blonde and just turned nineteen like him. 

“WHAT IS THIS?!” He demands gesturing to Zoro.

“That’s not how we left him Lord Spandam!” Kaku exclaims, clearly desperate to not be the one to be blamed for this.

“Well then you shouldn’t have left him then should you?!” The man apparently named Spandam snaps, raising a good point, especially when there was apparently slinky dress wearing ninjas sneaking about with clothing racks and makeup.

“That’s sexual harassment.” Kalifa says calmly, and for a moment Zoro thinks that she means him and agrees, but apparently and nonsensically she means herself.

“That doesn’t even- never mind that’s the music starting up! Come with me.” Spandam snaps and grabs Zoro’s arm hard enough to bruise and drags him so sharply as to deliberately put Zoro off balance. He stumbles along the hallway with the irate Lord. Part of him hopes that his future owner doesn’t look like this snarling, hideous faced, mask wearing man dragging him around. He immediately chastises himself for that thought, it doesn’t matter what his new master looks like, he still hates him.

Spandam comes to a halt outside of a big set of doors, takes a calming breath and adjusts his tie and freaky leather mask. He tightens his grip on Zoro’s arm, notching it up from bruising to circulation altering whilst managing to look gentle to the guests and potential photographers. He walks forward through the doors gently, looking for all the world like he was shepherding an innocent lamb into the room instead of leading him to metaphorical slaughter. His fingernails remain sharply embedded in Zoro’s arm to remind him of his place, as if he could possibly forget.

The room is lavishly decorated with red roses about the place and dribbling red candles in wrought-iron wall sconces. The room is packed with guests so rich looking that Zoro is stunned that he doesn’t accidentally inhale a hundred dollar bill just by breathing near them. 

Of their own accord his eyes dart up to the man at the table at the head of the room, the table that would be an altar if this was a wedding between consenting adults – which it isn’t. The guy there is shockingly blonde and lean, he looks like an advert for fancy suits or cologne. He’s Zoro’s height more or less and his posture conveys a certain nervousness that Zoro hadn’t anticipated. He turns to look at Zoro and he catches a flash of Mediterranean sea blue in his eyes, though one of them is hidden under a wash of silky blonde hair. Their eyes meet and the flash of sexual interest in the blonde’s eyes reminds Zoro sickly of just why he’s here. 

The whole ceremony is a sick mimicry of a wedding, only he doesn’t have to sign anything because he’s not a real person. He does have to stand there and try to force sincerity into his voice as he pledges loyalty, obedience and devotion to his new master. He knows the words by heart, the Royal Institute drums it into all of their heads from day one so that they don’t screw up this most important moment.

Sanji turns to him at the last part of the ceremony, the bit that Zoro had been strangely dreading. It wasn’t like this changed his situation any but the symbolism involved makes it somehow all the more real. The blonde rich boy fumbles in his pockets for a few moments before Robin, from her seat in the front row, crosses her arms, materialising an arm on Sanji’s shoulder and reaches into his breast pocket for him and pulling out a gold padlock. Sanji reddens as her hand disappears and mumbles an embarrassed thank you that draws a few laughs from the audience. 

The padlock is open with a golden key in it that has a smooth gold chain attached to it. With slightly shaky hands the blonde flicks the bar on it until it’s open all the way. Zoro knows all too well that the key doesn’t actually open the thing, it’s just for show. But then so is the padlock which obviously doesn’t make his collar come off should he remove it, after all it’s been stuck on Zoro’s neck for years without one. 

The official makes Sanji repeat overly legal sounding lines about care and ownership and so on. After he finishes he flashes Zoro a quick nervous and slightly embarrassed smile which Zoro doesn’t return. In fact he wants to hiss at him and rip his face off, but he doesn’t. 

Sanji reaches over and snaps the golden padlock shut which frees the key into Sanji’s hands. He can hear the ringing sound in his ears of the padlock shutting, sounding the death knell of the few little freedoms that he had left. Sanji takes his hands away from the padlock and Zoro swallows, feeling the heavy weight of the gold padlock move with his throat, it weighs him down to his very soul. As Sanji slips the chain with the key on over his own neck Zoro knows the deal well enough to slide to his knees and bow his head as he’s supposed to, it’s over. This guy owns him.


	2. Chapter 2

After the ceremony ends and flowers are thrown drinks start pouring for the rest of the guests, Sanji snags two for them but Zoro manages to ditch his in a plant. He doesn’t have a problem with drinking but drinking around these guys? Hell no.

The two of them are herded down a corridor by a photographer into a room clearly set up for the purpose of taking photographs. There’s a fancy looking bookshelf behind them and chairs that have convenient casters on to wheel them in and out of shot depending on who’s there. The photographs make Zoro feel more like an expensive living prop than he already is with people moving him around the picture without asking him, just telling or sometimes just grabbing him and pulling. Sanji on the other hand gets fussed over and cajoled into doing what the photographer and his relatives want. 

Different groups file in and out of the room, shots with Sanji’s horrible father, shots with Sanji’s father and uncle, shots with Sanji’s extended family. After that there are pictures with Sanji’s friends, in which the blonde brightens significantly and Robin makes an appearance again, along with a skinny guy with an afro whom, upon closer inspection and a tasteless joke on the guy’s part, is revealed to be an actual living skeleton! He’s another Devil’s fruit user clearly and it leads Zoro to wonder if Sanji is too, and if so if he might be able at a later date to arrange a water based “accident” for his new master. After all, mates whose masters die under natural circumstances can occasionally be set free if it’s in the will. Though how he’d get that in Sanji’s will is a different problem. 

As he ponders that problem the photographer ushers everyone else out of the room.

“Just the two of us now?” Sanji asks in a slightly disinterested voice and he slouches a little, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Yes, now if you stand a little closer together for this shot… like that.” The photographer says manoeuvring Zoro a little closer to Sanji’s side without so much as asking him. The warmth from Sanji’s shoulder leaks across to him and makes the hairs on the back of Zoro’s neck rise up in protest.

“Hah, come on now, pretend like you like each other!” The photographer jokes. Zoro doesn’t find that funny at all seeing as how that joke line could be the script for the rest of his natural life. He glances over at Sanji who looks at him and flashes him a rueful grin.

“This is so dull, I hate having my picture taken.” Sanji says under his breath so that only Zoro can hear him.

“Come on you two, smile!” The photographer says cheesily. Zoro wonders how far through stabbing the man to death with his own tripod he could get before he was restrained. Sanji rolls his eyes at Zoro like they’re friends and this is all some big joke and reluctantly flashes a smile for the camera. Zoro gives up on trying to kill everyone in the room with his eyes and figures that the blonde probably has the right idea, the sooner he can pull off the required convincing smile the sooner he’ll be away from this mouth breathing moron of a photographer.

He calls up memories of hours spent with Luffy and Ace, laughing and drinking at their house and running around his neighbourhood getting into trouble. He conjures up memories of him and Nami at thirteen sneaking around the institute finding hiding places to stash their pick-pocketed wares and getting drunk off of alcohol they’d fermented themselves in secret. A small smile forms on his lips and he does his best to freeze it there as the camera flashes. 

The photographer looks through his photos and looks pleased. Zoro breathes a sigh of relief and feels Sanji do the same next to him, one photo closer to being done, maybe it might even be the last.

“That wasn’t too bad! Now for your photos for your private album Sir Prince.” The photographer says locking the door and making his way back to them. Zoro frowns, logically it would make sense to assume that they’re going to be expected to change outfits, maybe into something more in keeping with some family tradition perhaps? 

“Private album?” Sanji asks, evidently as non-plussed as Zoro is.

“Yes, it’s traditional to capture the first on camera, for your eyes only of course.” The photographer explains with a sleazy wink. 

Sanji still looks puzzled but Zoro is starting to catch on and with the realisation dread starts to draw an icy finger up his spine. 

“If you just unzip Sir, just pretend I’m not here, don’t mind me. A lot of young men your age like their hands in their mate’s hair like this, but whatever you fancy.” The photographer says congenially as he painfully grabs a fistful of Zoro’s hair to demonstrate.

Fear courses through Zoro and he thinks of ways that he can snap this guy’s arm. But he can’t, he wouldn’t make it out of the building unarmed like this, and even if he did he was back to that “fate worse than death” part again. It doesn’t help that he’s frozen on the spot and the only thing going through his head is a verse and chorus of “no, no, no, no, no”. 

“Now if you just… on your knees.” The photographer continues, gritting his teeth, yanking Zoro’s head back slightly by his hair and kicking him in the back of the knees so he drops to the floor. His eyes are level with his master’s shiny belt buckle now. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly and prays that this is just a terrible nightmare. He prays that he’s just going to wake up with a jolt staring at Luffy’s discoloured ceiling after another night on his crappy sofa, that he’ll be freaked out and Luffy will act like a moron until Zoro laughs and the horrible nightmare is forgotten. 

In reality however two fingers slide under his collar and yank him roughly to his feet, his eyes fly open in terror and surprise. Sanji’s face is a picture of fury as he steps between Zoro and the photographer, almost shielding him with his body. 

“Are you crazy?! I’m not going to- to- GET OUT OF HERE! That’s sick!” Sanji yells, so livid that the photographer actually backs away out of fear. 

“But- but it’s tradition!” The photographer squeaks, skirting around the room away from the furious blonde. 

“OUT!” Sanji bellows, chasing the photographer from the room. The blonde slams the door, kicks it for good measure and rests his head on it with a heaving sigh.

Zoro realises that he’s shaking, he catches himself and tries to force his body to stop. The last thing he wants to do here is to show weakness.

“Good god, some people.” Sanji mutters, turning against the door so that his back is resting on it. He sighs and looks at Zoro. 

He’s sure that the panic must be showing on his face at least a little because Sanji feels the need to frown worriedly at him.

“Are you okay? You’re… you’re shaking.” He comments stepping closer and spiking Zoro’s anxiety higher. Zoro swallows the lump in his throat and nods sharply, not trusting his voice at this moment. 

“Listen, this is pretty weird and I know we haven’t had any time to talk but-” Sanji starts off but is cut off by a loud banging on the door behind him.

“Oi, Sanji! Are you all done in there with your personal photos?” The older male voice asks with a dirty laugh. The tips of Sanji’s ears turn pink and he spins to open the door.

“What do you want Uncle Fullbody?” Sanji asks with a growl in his voice as he opens the door.

“Hey, don’t talk to your favourite uncle like that!” The slightly older lavender haired guy says, shoving his way into the room and clapping Sanji on the shoulder.

“You’re my only uncle.” Sanji grumbles at the man.

“Less of that. Come on, there’s food now!” Fullbody laughs dragging Sanji out of the room. The blonde shoots him a regretful look, but for what Zoro doesn’t know. He doesn’t follow them but he can still hear them.

“You hold onto those private pictures yeah? You get more attached to them than you might think, the mate I mean, but the pictures too – hah! Ah, I remember when I got my Rose, such fun. Unfortunately she broke her leg a few years later and the cast was so unsightly and she’d take so long to heal that I had to put her down you see. Such a shame. Ah well, I might get another in a few years though.” Fullbody says with a wistful sigh.

Zoro’s blood runs cold, that poor woman. Fullbody was talking about her like she was a dog, no, he probably treated his dogs better than that!

“What?! You and father told me that Aunt Rose got sick and died!” Sanji squawks in horror as he and Fullbody make their way down the corridor, having completely forgotten him. 

“Oh stop being so wet Sanji, I keep telling you, they’re not people.” Fullbody sighs dramatically.

Zoro shuts the door, not able to listen to those two any longer. Goddamn rich bastards. Was this really going to be his life now? Was he going to be ‘put down’ like a dog when Sanji tires of him like Fullbody had of poor Rose? That said, would he want to live by the time Sanji tired of him? After all, if Sanji wasn’t so shy and disliked having his photo taken so much he’d probably be choking and gagging from his knees while some sicko took pictures. 

He shudders, he wants to get away from here desperately by he knows that he can’t, the first day is such a high risk day for mates fleeing that the Royal Institute even provides its own guards. It’s all part of their ‘five star service’. He looks out of the window and sure enough he spies the familiar looking men in cheap-looking suits. They don’t have guns or weapons. They have a remote each, the remote connects to a device in the collar around his neck. The device is kind of like a taser but smarter than that, the voltage ramps up and up until either manually switched off by the remote holder or until it senses that the wearer has lost consciousness, if it doesn’t kill him first. It has a rather high failure rate but no one complains. If those guards so much as saw him trying to escape they’d use it, and after that well… things only got infinitely worse.

He backs away from the window with a sigh and turns back to the door. Robin is standing there in her pretty dress, watching him with an expression that he can’t place. Her sudden appearance makes him jump, once again he didn’t hear the door open and it’s shut again behind her.

“How do you keep doing that?” Zoro frowns at her. He doesn’t know why he’s talking to her, perhaps because she’s the only one yet to both say more than two sentences to him and treat him like a human being. God his standards are low.

“How do I keep doing what?” She smiles at him sneakily. 

“Appearing and disappearing like that. Is it part of your devil’s fruit power?” he questions her. All his training in manners is reprimanding him inside for being so informal with someone so above his station, someone who is titled as Lady no less.

A disembodied hand pushes him gently away from the wall towards her. He gets the hint and walks willingly forwards. 

“Everybody has their secrets Zoro. Now come, they’re serving great food out there. It’s the second best food that you’ll ever eat.” She smiles at him coyly as she links her arm through his and walks him down the fancy corridor. 

“Second best eh? How can I saw no to that?” He smirks at her, getting a wry grin back in return.

Robin leads him into a banquet hall that is positively bustling with people, both dressed up dinner guests and servants running around hurriedly with plates of food. The room is plushly decorated of course with thick and elaborately patterned carpet that Zoro’s feet sink into with every step and gigantic glittery chandeliers throwing sparkles around the room.

Zoro spies Sanji sitting and the top table next to his father Spandam. The older man is talking, gesticulating wildly and punctuating his points with a thump of his fist on the table. Sanji flashes a tight grin at his father and whilst he’s not looking necks the entire glass of champagne in his hand in one go. It is very quickly refilled by an attentive servant girl and eyed by Sanji as if he is weighing up whether he can do the same to this one before his father turns his attention back on him. 

“Oh dear, Sanji shall be very drunk very soon if he keeps that up.” Robin says worriedly.

Great, so his master was a drinker then, that was going to work out just peachy for him wasn’t it? Next he’d find out that the guy had a violent streak too. He’d already seen the guy’s temper at he photographer – none of this boded well for him. Nevertheless he parts ways with Robin who places a polite kiss on his cheek as she goes to her table with the afro wearing skeleton, leaving him to navigate his way to the top table and sit next to Sanji. He sits down but finds Sanji too deeply engrossed in, or at least too absorbed in listening, to a debate that his father and uncle are having about some administration board. It sounds dull as dishwater to him so he tunes them out completely, a skill that he learned from years of being around Nami bitching. 

A fancily dressed servant stops by him and delicately places a gorgeous looking plate of food down before him with a short respectful bow/curtsy hybrid.

“Oh, thank you.” He says looking up at the servant who stares back at him with wide surprised eyes. The guy seems so shocked and Zoro realises that it’s because he thanked him.

“You… you’re welcome.” The guy stammers and places another plate down in front of Sanji too. The blonde however is too busy downing another glass of champagne with his eyes shut to even notice let alone thank the guy. Rich bastard.

Zoro eats his food in silence, it’s good food, the best that he’s ever eaten in fact, but his sour mood caused by the heavy padlock at his throat significantly dampens his enthusiasm for the meal. Sanji for the most part stays silent, only participating in discussion with his father and uncle when actually asked for his opinion. Sanji never even talks to him or looks at him, which is fine by Zoro and he can hope only that Sanji plans to continue that way for the rest of their lives – though he doubts that he’ll be so lucky.

Plenty of people stop by the top table to give their congratulations to Sanji on his new acquisition, namely him. The blonde appears pleased to see some people but not all. Several of the guests pinch Zoro’s cheeks or pat him on the head like a pet.

Many of them have mates of their own with matching collars to Zoro – though the padlocks are all different. Most of the mates keep a respectful few paces behind their masters with quiet expressions and downcast eyes. A few walk alongside their masters with happy expressions, though Zoro doesn’t think that any of their smiles quite reach their eyes. Zoro wonders if they’re remembering the day when they were sat in his seat, beside someone that they neither knew nor chose.

The evening stretches on and Zoro is aware that soon he and Sanji are supposed to dance. He’s not worried about that, formal dancing is something that he’s always been quite good at and got good marks in. It’s like sword drills except less fun, just a pattern to remember. However, Sanji is so drunk by now that Zoro is doubtful as to whether the man will be up for anything more complex than standing, let alone dancing. It seems not as a blue haired man taps him on the shoulder as he’s en route to the bathroom. 

“Yo, you’re Zoro right?” The blue haired man asks. He looks at him quizzically, the guy has a massive sky blue quiff of hair and, very oddly, a metal nose and a really weird three pointed chin. He figures that it’s the result of some kind of accident and it would be rude to stare or ask. 

“Yeah.” He answers instead.

“Super. I’ve got Sanji’s car to take you back.” The guy beams at him and spins a key ring with car keys on it around his little finger. 

“You’re his driver?” Zoro asks curiously following the man as he beckons him along. 

“Heh, something like that. After I drop you off I’ll show ya around, then I’ll come back to pick up Sanji, possibly literally if he continues drinking like that.” The guy snickers. 

Definitely a history of drinking then he notes mentally, the guy is probably an alcoholic. 

“So…” Zoro begins and he follows the blue headed guy down the long corridor, he realises suddenly that he doesn’t even know this guy’s name. The guy obviously picks that up as he suddenly introduces himself.

“Franky! Pleased to meet you!” The guy says enthusiastically, rolling his r’s and shaking Zoro’s hand in his massive one so enthusiastically that Zoro thinks his arm might rip off. 

“Franky.” Zoro smiles, rubbing his arm when Franky turns back to walking. Perhaps he can make friends with this guy, maybe if he does he’ll help him hide from Sanji if he’s especially drunk and/or violent. He doesn’t like being manipulative like this but all the same he’d rather survive. Besides if he and Franky became friends he’d do what he could to protect Franky should the strange man ever need it. 

“What’s Sanji like?” He asks as he and Franky exit the building out into the cool night air. It soothes Zoro’s flushed skin which is clammy from the crowded room. It’s as if being around all those evil rich people has brought him out in some kind of allergic sweat.

“Sanji is a pretty super guy. I guess you’ve not had much time to get to know him after all the commotion today.” Franky muses, ushering him into a dark blue metallic flying car. Zoro slides across the back seat, his suit creasing against the smooth leather. He sits on the opposite side of Franky in the back so that he can see more of the man’s expressions when he speaks.

“So?” He prompts, hoping for more information out of Franky.

“Oh, you know. He’s nice and all, talented too. Pretty short fuse on him though, I can tell you. And I wouldn’t want to be one of the poor bastards that really pisses him off!” Franky chuckles.

Zoro leans back in his seat. Shit. That had to be a warning didn’t it? Keep quiet, keep your head down if you know what’s good for you. Zoro wonders how much first hand experience Franky has with Sanji’s temper. Was the injury that caused him to need a new nose inflicted on him by Sanji? After all, Franky couldn’t very well come out and say so, so obviously he had to allude. But to Zoro Franky may as well have hung up a banner that said “broken bones are in your future my boy!”

Zoro slides lower in his seat and looks out of the windows at the tips of the skyscrapers whizzing by at incredible speed. Once again his sour mood spoils what should be “oh boy I’m flying!” feelings. 

They land on the gravel driveway of a building that is more country manor than castle, it’s certainly more modest than the place that they only just left. Franky drives the car into the garage on its wheels and parks it before making his way to the back of the car and letting Zoro out. He didn’t even bother trying the door himself, no doubt they’re security locked.

The blue haired man leads Zoro up a set of steps and into the house proper, the larger man turning on lights as they go. Gone are the fancy chandeliers and plush carpets. This place is all white, blue and chrome with bright lighting, big windows and clean lines. Great. He and his master share décor sensibilities, that’s sure to make his time here more bearable – not. 

“Sooo… kitchen through that door, you can’t miss it. My room and Usopp’s room- you’ll meet him tomorrow- are down there if you need us. And you and Sanji are this way.” Franky explains as they walk down what must be the west wing of the house. 

They come to a thick oak door along the long corridor which is dotted with other identical doors. It’s the last door on the end of the corridor though. As it’s late in the evening however the large windows don’t illuminate the hallway at all and Zoro irrationally feels like their darkness is seeping into him. 

“Okay, your room is here- there’s a bathroom all to yourself connected to it, and Sanji’s room is that one.” Franky says pointing to the room across the hall behind them. Franky opens the door to Zoro’s new room and he can’t help but gasp. The room is easily as big as the D-brother’s whole house. The room is decorated in a variety of forest greens with natural wood being the theme of the room with a desk, a table and matching chairs all made out of oak. Zoro’s eyes land on the huge four poster bed and a nervous lump forms in his throat. Just what does Sanji have in mind with the design of this bed and it’s long thick wooden posts? Is the blonde planning on tying him up so that he can’t escape or is it something more sadistic? Franky seems oblivious to his thoughts and claps him on the shoulder with a merry ‘goodnight’ and walks off down the hallway to the garage to fly back to fetch Sanji.

Left on his own Zoro shuts the door behind him walks into the centre of the room and carefully hangs his jacket of the back of an oak chair. He looks around the room a little more carefully, trying to take in all of the details of the room but his eyes keep coming back to the bed. All he can think about is what’s due to happen there tonight. He’s been skirting around the idea all day. With the ceremony, with Robin’s strange powers and with the drive over he’s managed to keep his mind ever in the present and away from what awaits him here. Now however, standing in the middle of the room and staring at the massive bed, he can’t escape reality.

He stares at it in trepidation and does a little mental arithmetic. It took Franky five minutes to fly him here, the man seems to be able to fly quite fast once he gets above building level. The blue haired man is probably just taking off now, so… five minutes to get back there, five to extract Sanji and five to get back here. Even being conservative about his time estimate that gives him no more than fifteen to twenty minutes before Sanji gets back and he’s, and there’s no point in sugar coating it now, raped. 

A cold sweat breaks out on Zoro’s skin and he backs away from the bed as if the thing was made of pure evil. He turns to look out of the window as he presses his palms to his temples and tries to focus on breathing. He knows that this, however terrible it is, is the lesser of two evils. Escape means capture, the shock collar and a fate worse than death. A fate worse than this is the thing he needs to focus on. Perhaps when he’s lying there, after all it’d be best probably not to fight Sanji, he can focus on that idea – like a mantra.

A sick feeling crawls up his throat and he only just makes it into the bathroom in time to throw up. He retches and allows his eyes to run, telling himself that it’s just a reflex to being sick, he’s not crying regardless of what sounds like sobs coming from his mouth. He doesn’t want this, he can’t cope with this. He’d always known that this was coming but now, being here, waiting for it to happen, he hadn’t appreciated how terrible his situation really was. He can practically feel Sanji’s hands on him already, touching him everywhere and leaving horrible prints of shame all over his skin.

Eventually he forces himself to stand on shaky legs, he flushes the toilet and stumbles to the sink. He rinses his mouth out with water and thankfully discovers a toothbrush and toothpaste already waiting in the mirrored cupboard on the wall. He quickly gets to brushing his teeth, hoping that the act will both wash away the taste in his mouth so he isn’t sick again and that the familiar action will soothe him. He brushes his teeth every day after all, in the morning when he’s barely awake and in the evening when all is well and he’s going to go to sleep. Perhaps in some bizarre way his conditioned brain is hoping that if he brushes his teeth it’ll mean that he can go to bed and sleep to wake up and find that this was all a dream. He focuses on the repetitive motion and forces his conscious mind to ensure he’s covered every millimetre of his mouth instead of thinking of worse things. 

Simple math tells him that he must have been brushing his teeth for ten minutes because a door slamming in the house makes him jump so violently that he almost stabs the toothbrush through his cheek. He spits into the sink and sees that he brushed long enough and hard enough to make his gums bleed. He rinses his mouth out and leaves the bathroom to stand in the centre of the room, trying not to visibly tremble. He won’t show fear, he won’t. He won’t let Sanji know that he’s hurting him, he won’t show weakness. His pride won’t let him.

A doorknob turns and a door opens, but not his. Zoro holds his breath, not allowing himself to hope for anything.

“Wait, this iz my room.” Sanji’s overly loud voice slurs outside in the hallway. He hears Sanji stumble unsteadily and he opens Zoro’s door and practically falls in the room as the thing swings open. Zoro forces his feet to stay where they are and not retreat from the blonde. 

“Zoro!” The drunk beams happily and shambles over to him. Zoro stands frozen on the spot. Sanji puts his hands on both of Zoro’s shoulders with a grin and Zoro has to focus very hard to repress the urge to rip his hands off of him and flee.

“I wanted to talk to ya, I didn’ get tha’ chance to before. That’s cause of my fuckin’ family. Hate those bassstards sooo much. Can’ be sober around ‘em, can’t survive.” Sanji slurs, shaking his head with distaste.

“Y’know, I’ve usually got v’ry good alcohol tolerance… jus- just champagne goes right to my head.” Sanji adds, flicking his finger up in the air and throwing in some kind of strange ‘whoop’ noise to illustrate it going to his head. Sanji seems to think that it’s funny at any rate as he collapses against Zoro’s chest giggling. 

Zoro doesn’t know how to react to any of this. Sanji seems drunk and well… harmless. His head is telling him that harmless is the last thing that Sanji is and that he’s not out of the woods at all, but his gut is telling him that this is okay, that he’s alright.

“So… yes!” Sanji exclaims, pulling back and looking at Zoro brightly. 

“I came in here to talk to you an to tell ya something!” he adds and then looks at Zoro expectantly as if expecting some sort of insightful response from him.

“Oh…kay?” Zoro ventures warily, causing a face splitting grin from the blonde.

“I wanted to tell ya, tha’ you dun hafta worry about me. I’m not… I’m not like all those other guys, y’know?” Sanji insists with drunken earnestness. He pulls back a little more and looks at Zoro, his eyes hazy from the alcohol. 

“So you Mr…. gorgeous, with yer green fuzzy hair that… ooh, it feels kina like moss.” Sanji smiles distractedly as he rubs his fingers through Zoro’s short hair. 

“Is that even yer real hair colour? Oh wow, it is, your eyelashes are green too!” Sanji exclaims, clearly excited about this.

“Um… I was sayin’ somethin’…” Sanji frowns in confusion, one hand still absently ruffling Zoro’s hair. Zoro mentally worries at this but again his gut tells him that he’s in no danger. He trusts his gut, it’s rarely led him wrong before, although it doesn’t quiet the panic in his mind.

“Uh… you were saying that you’re not like everyone else.” Zoro prompts, carefully removing Sanji’s hands from his hair.

“Oh yes! I’m not like everyone else! So you, moss hair, don’t have to worry ‘bout me! You’ll be safe as… a very… safe thing here. Very safe, around me.” Sanji nods drunkenly.

The blonde pushes away off of Zoro’s chest and stumbles across the room unsteadily.

“An’ now, I’m goin’ to bed. Cause otherwise I’m gonna pass out!” Sanji declares loudly, wrenching a door open dramatically and stepping through, closing it after himself.

Zoro stands uncomfortably for a few moments before reluctantly following Sanji and opening the door. He turns the light on in what turns out to be a walk in wardrobe to see Sanji without his jacket and his shirt halfway undone looking around with a mild air of confusion.

“Ah, forgive me but… this is a wardrobe.” He says carefully to the blonde. 

“I did wonder where my bed went.” Sanji agrees before shambling out past Zoro and out into the corridor. He struggles with his own door for a moment before opening it and literally cartwheeling inside with a delighted ‘yay!’. Zoro hears a soft thump and the sound of bedsprings squeaking followed almost immediately by a very loud drunken snore.

Quietly and gently Zoro closes his own door and steps back a fair way until his calves hit the bed and he falls back onto it. 

What. The. Fuck?

He swallows in confusion and tries to order his thoughts. What the hell just happened? He’d been expecting rape and brutality when instead he got drunken babble, vague flirtations and cartwheels! He couldn’t think of two more disparate outcomes!

He allows his heart rate to slow and for the slight tremor that had invaded his body earlier to fade. He’s… he’s going to be okay. For tonight at least. A sick feeling in the back of his throat reminds him that he’s merely had the inevitable delayed, not removed.

Carefully, as if expecting a trap, he peels off his fancy suit and rests it on the back of the chair with his jacket. He keeps his eyes constantly on the door in case Sanji should burst back in. He pulls back the covers on the oversized green quilted bed and is pleased to find some loose pyjamas there. Or rather they’re supposed to be loose. A normally built man would find them so but not he. The shirt is practically skin-tight on him and the trousers hang slightly on his hips.

Still, it’s more clothes than none. He slides under the covers and sighs as a blissful reflex, the mattress is perfect and it makes his muscles practically purr to be on it. He rests his head gingerly on the pillow and falls into a fitful sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Zoro comes into full wakefulness already leaping half out of bed, pulse racing and hands scrabbling for a weapon as he lands crouching on the floor.

“GAH!” The startled guy at the door yelps, apparently scared by his sudden movement.

Zoro blinks and looks at the guy, he must have woken him when he came into the room, he can’t have been sleeping very deeply if he was able to react like that straight away. The guy is younger than Zoro and skinny, not in that secretly powerful type of skinny either, no, this guy was just plain skinny. He’s unarmed too, or appears to be from what Zoro can see of him. He has thick curly black hair and the longest nose that Zoro has ever seen, along with one of the most unreasonably terrified responses to him. Figuring that he’s more or less safe and can probably take this guy in a fight he stands up and glares at him.

“Who the hell are you?” He demands, levelling a scowl at the skinny guy. He looks a little younger than him, perhaps Luffy’s age.

“U-Usopp.” The guy says with a shaking voice. 

That triggers something in Zoro’s brain, didn’t Franky mention someone by that name to him last night?

“I work here.” Usopp volunteers as clarification and confirmation of his internal monologue. He relaxes a little more, for a minute there when the guy had come in he had almost thought that the guy was Kaku, they have the same nose. But this guy is nicer looking, a little more innocent and a little less evil lackey. 

“Right. Ah, I’m-” Zoro starts, feeling a little bad about scaring the smaller guy.

“Zoro, I know. The whole house has been buzzing about you all week, Sanji especially. You were a bit of a surprise to say the least.” Usopp smile relaxing too now that Zoro doesn’t look like he’s about to vault the bed and attack him.

“A surprise?” Zoro frowns in confusion at the long nosed guy. 

“Yeah, it was Sanji’s father Lord Spandam who decided that Sanji had to have a… god, is there a word for what you are that doesn’t sound weird?” Usopp asks with a frown as he comes into the room.

Zoro sighs, a lot of people have this problem. They search for a term like “boyfriend” or “husband”, something that felt nice to say and conveyed nice things. But Zoro’s position isn’t nice and sensitive people feel uncomfortable with slave or whore. 

“Most people go with mate.” Zoro answers instead.

“That still sounds weird. Ah, anyway, Lord Spandam declared last week that he’d put in an application for Sanji to have a mate. To be honest we were worried that you were gonna be some psychopath or something.” Usopp laughs nervously, looking at Zoro warily as if he’s just realised that he doesn’t know him all that well and he could easily be a psychopath.

“Why would I be? Unless that’s your master’s thing?” Zoro says feeling confused, how could he be a punishment?

“Sanji’s not my master!” Usopp balks, almost choking on his own tongue.

“But… you said that you work here.” Zoro points out, confusion mounting up in his brain.

“Well, I do. I guess you could call Sanji my boss I suppose…. I mean, he pays me. But he’s my friend, and definitely not my master!” Usopp answers, sounding scandalised. 

Zoro stares at the weird guy. He’s never seen a servant who talks about his master so flippantly, and that is what Sir Sanji is to him, he’s the master of this house and all who live and work in it. He’s certainly above being friends with mere servants. Is this Usopp guy trying to trick him? To make him think that the master is really relaxed only to get him attacked for his insolence? 

“Hah! I guess a lot of this isn’t what you were expecting, huh? Anyway, we figured that you were supposed to be some kind of punishment. Sanji and his father hate each other and I think that Sanji’s been pissing him off at work. So we thought that you were punishment.” Usopp answers with a shrug, oblivious to Zoro’s suspicions about him. 

A thought slowly occurs to Zoro. He had figured that Sanji had put the application in himself and didn’t want to see him until the day of the ceremony – that wasn’t unusual, some people liked a surprise but usually had a friend or relative make sure everything was okay. That’s who he’d figured Robin was, especially since she seemed to be one of Sanji’s friends. But that didn’t explain her shifty behaviour, especially if it was Sanji’s father who put in the application…

“How does Robin feel about Lord Spandam?” Zoro asks curiously. 

“Let’s just say that she wouldn’t shed a tear if an asteroid splattered him off of the face of the earth.” Usopp says flatly. 

Zoro smiles to himself. No wonder Robin had been both so nice to him and so sneaky yesterday, she’d been trying to upset Lord Spandam’s plans. And he’d bet that she’d not been chosen to be the one to pick him from the shortlist created by Lord Spandam’s application. Judging by the rest of her behaviour so far she’d probably snuck in and tricked people into thinking she was supposed to. 

That was why she’d been the one to pick up the forms, a job which was usually done by the person who selected you from the shortlist on behalf of the person who put the application in. Zoro recalls the day that he met her, she disappeared just before Lord Spandam’s lackeys had shown up. The fact that she was then almost certainly responsible for picking him, and probably interfering with someone more suitable not being selected, makes him less inclined to like her. Still, there was nothing that he could do about that now.

“Why do you ask?” Usopp asks in a confused voice, clearly not having pieced together what Zoro had. 

“Nothing.” He lies with a shrug. Usopp looks at him suspiciously before seeming to remember what he’d come in here for. He unslings the large purse-shaped bag from his shoulder, dropping it onto the edge of the large bed before pulling out an array of clothes.

“I hope that these will be the right size for you, Franky wasn’t very clear when he told me what you looked like. I didn’t realise that he wasn’t exaggerating when he told me that you were really muscled.” Usopp laughs nervously, looking at Zoro like he might decide to bench press the much smaller man just for fun. He glances down at his own arms and sees that the tight shirt that he’d found in the bed last night is indeed straining against his biceps and his shoulder muscles.

“This stuff is just temporary mind you, I know that Sanji plans on taking you out for shopping for your own stuff later today.” The long nose reassures him. 

The two of them start picking through the clothes trying to find things that look like they might fit. Zoro quickly discards several of them as way too small. Usopp continues talking, he’s clearly one of those people who feels the need to fill silences with conversation, no matter how inane. Zoro’s not going to stop him though, it will give him more information about his situation and knowledge is definitely power. 

“Sanji should be back from his run for breakfast soon, he’s trying to outrun the hangover.” Usopp snickers as he leaves the bed and pulls the curtains open, revealing wide windows to a balcony that Zoro hadn’t noticed last night in his panic. Usopp opens the door and steps outside.

“Oh, hey, there he is.” Usopp remarks, looking down and leaning on the railings casually.

Curiously Zoro sidles over onto the balcony and spies Sanji, he sees the gleaming gold of his hair first as he runs towards the house. He’s wearing long sweatpants and a white and blue shirt that make him stand out vividly from the lawn below. 

“Here, run this under the cold tap would ya? Don’t squeeze the water out of it.” Usopp says with a sneaky grin, handing him what appears to be a spherical sponge.

Curious but not willing to disobey such a harmless request, however weird, he heads to the bathroom. He holds the spongy ball under the cold tap, the water is almost icy cold and it chills his fingers as he soaks the sponge. Dripping water onto the floor he returns to Usopp. He hands it over which brings an expression of sneaky glee to the long nose’s face. Quickly he whips an oversized slingshot out of the bag on the bed and scampers back to the balcony. He pulls the elastic back with the ball inside of it and aims. 

Zoro pales and backs well up back into the safety of the room. Surely the crazy long nosed guy isn’t going to shoot Sanji with that thing! Is he mad?! Or is he trying to get him into trouble?

“Oi! Sanji!” Usopp shouts and releases the soaked projectile with a twang. Zoro can distinctly hear the wet splat and the shocked yelp. Somehow though the sponge flies back up to Usopp and hits the balcony door with a damp splat by Usopp’s head.

“USOPP! You bastard!” Sanji’s furious voice yells, sending the clearly suicidal Usopp into hysterics.

“That was FREEZING! I’m soaked!” Sanji adds loudly, making Usopp only laugh harder.

“Oh hey… that’s Zoro’s room. Oi! Is Zoro up?” Sanji shouts up to Usopp. Zoro flinches, this is where Usopp’s deed gets him into trouble. Is this what the long nosed guy planned all along?

“Yeah he is.” Usopp manages between giggles. Zoro’s blood freezes, Usopp does intend to blame it on him! That bastard!

“Well tell him to come down for breakfast. You, however, can starve!” Sanji yells up at the balcony. 

“Ha ha! Like you’d let me!” Usopp laughs and steps away from the balcony and back into the room with Zoro. 

Zoro is aware that he’s staring at Usopp bug eyed. Not only does the long nose not address his master by his proper title but he’ll even go so far as to attack him! Admittedly said attack was only with a slingshot and some freezing water, but still! He tries to school his face into a less surprised expression as Usopp looks at him.

“Kitchen’s that-a-way, down the stairs and on your right, see ya down there!” Usopp laughs, patting him on the shoulder and leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Zoro stares at the shut door, that Usopp guy is nuts. He sighs and returns his attention to the clothes piled before him. He wishes that he’d been able to keep his institute uniform, but Kalifa and Kaku have probably burned it by now for being too common. Still, it fitted him though, which is more than he can say for half of this stuff. 

Eventually he’s able to leave the room once again wearing underwear, this time under a loose pair of jeans secured onto him only with a very tight belt. He’s also managed to throw on an open shirt over the tight t-shirt that he slept in as none of the others fit, he couldn’t do the shirt buttons up if you asked him as it’s too small but it looks okay.

He wanders down the hallway wondering what’s behind each of the big thick wooden doors. Sanji seems to have a distinctive taste, the whole place has hardwood flooring polished and stained to a deep glossy finish. The walls are mostly blue and white and the occasional painting sits in simple frames, they’re mostly landscapes although a few of them are odd enough to make Zoro stop in his tracks. The one to his right for example shows a giant koi shipwrecking a large ship by slapping its tail straight through it. Another one shows a fantastical forest painted in mystical colours with twisty vines and trees. He wants to stay and look at it more but he shouldn’t be late. 

He hurries through the house and down the large staircase that he remembers coming up with Franky last night which leads him out into a large foyer type area. He glances around hopelessly, he remembers both Usopp and Franky telling him that the kitchen was around here but he can’t remember where. Normally he would be completely lost, his feet have a terrible sense of direction, but thankfully his nose and his stomach have far better senses. He follows the delicious frying smell in the air to a dark wooden door that’s ajar. He pushes it open and is greeted by a brilliantly light kitchen that’s absolutely massive. There’s clean black marble everywhere and Zoro is stunned to see Franky and Usopp sitting casually at the dining table, chatting happily with relaxed looks on their faces, whilst Sanji is at the stove cooking and juggling several different jobs.

Surely this is backwards?

He doesn’t have time to question the oddity of the master cooking for his servants as Sanji spies his entrance and flashes him a smile so warm and sunny that Zoro’s lips twitch into a small involuntary smile. He warily steps further into the room, his fingers itching at seeing the wrongness of someone of Sanji’s status working whilst his servants do nothing. 

“Don’t even bother offering to help bro, he doesn’t let any of us in the kitchen.” Franky calls out to him with a grin, evidently some of his unease was showing on his face. Reminded of his mistake Zoro schools his face back into neutral, he can’t let anyone read him too easily here. 

“It’s my kitchen.” Sanji replies somewhat sternly, earning him an eye-roll out of Usopp. Sanji turns to him fully now, sliding an omelette off of the pan and onto a plate and handing it to Usopp who receives it with an excited squeak. It smells incredible, and if the enthusiasm with which Usopp starts scarfing it is any indication, it tastes it too.

He glances back at Sanji to see that the blonde is already watching him, leaning on the granite countertop and smiling slightly at him. It… unnerves Zoro a little. He doesn’t know how to read that smile, is that a smile of satisfaction at owning him or is it something else?

“What can I get you to eat?” Sanji asks naturally, as if it’s the easiest thing in the world. Zoro blinks at Sanji in surprise, he’s never been asked what he wants to eat before. It’s always just been whatever he’s been given, or when he was with Luffy and Ace it was whatever had been left and not yet gone mouldy. 

“Uh… I don’t mind, whatever you’re having.” He manages, cringing inside because that sounded a little bold, as if it was Sanji’s job to serve him instead of the other way around. He doesn’t think that the blonde is better than him, on the contrary, he thinks that Sanji is scum – anyone who buys another living human being is, but he doesn’t think that it’s wise for him to act like he can give orders. He might have hated the institute but a lot of what they taught him was things that he needs to do if he wants to survive.

Clearly Sanji thinks the same thing because his… rather odd eyebrows are pinched in a little frown at him.

“No, I asked you what you want. What’re you in the mood for?” Sanji asks a little more firmly. 

“Anything, I’m not picky.” Zoro replies, why does it matter? Sanji could give him more or less anything without him complaining. 

“But what do you feel like?” Sanji presses, clearly not pleased with this conversation. Zoro doesn’t know the right answer though, this was never part of any class because Sanji shouldn’t ever be cooking for him so he shouldn’t know how to tell him what he wants. 

“I don’t know!” Zoro replies feeling exasperated and tense.

“Oh boy.” Usopp mutters from the table, his head in his hand.

“The French toast is great!” Franky pipes up helpfully, waving a piece of it in the air.

“French toast!” Zoro says quickly, looking back to Sanji. That’s an answer, and it looks like he’s already made some for Franky so it shouldn’t trouble the man.

“I’ll make more then, sit down.” Sanji sighs, rolling his eyes at Zoro and turning back to the stove whilst shooing him away with his hand. 

Hesitantly Zoro makes his way over to the table and sits next to Franky. The blue haired man grins at him awkwardly.

“Don’t mind Sanji, he wants to cook people whatever they want to eat. Ambivalence about food irks him.” Franky explains helpfully. Zoro just frowns though, it’s such an odd answer. He glances over at Sanji who is humming and dunking bread into a mixture, weird.

“But… shouldn’t we be cooking?” Zoro says quietly, so that Sanji can’t hear. 

“Be my guest, I’ll help you pick your teeth up off of the floor when Sanji catches you trying to touch his cooking equipment.” Usopp smirks at him.

Worry runs its cold fingers up Zoro’s spine, yet another mention to Sanji’s violent streak. 

“Usopp.” Sanji growls warningly from the kitchen, making the long nose wince and Zoro feel more concerned deep down. 

Zoro sits quietly, splitting his attention between acutely observing Sanji in case the man suddenly needs him for anything and listening into Franky and Usopp’s conversation. Most of the two servants conversation seems to revolve around the ceremony yesterday, around who was there that Sanji hates. Franky mentions running into Robin when he picked Sanji up, with a slightly sly smile on his face that makes Zoro wonder if the blue haired man’s thoughts about Robin aren’t a little above his station. Someone like Franky wouldn’t stand a chance with someone who was actually titled Lady. 

The conversation then turns to dissecting with amusement just how drunk Sanji was last night, a topic that Zoro chooses not to comment on. One of the cardinal rules of being a mate is to keep your master’s secrets and never embarrass them.

“Well, he was drunk enough to lose his jacket, I’ve looked all downstairs and in his room and I can’t find it.” Usopp pouts and scarfs down another huge bite of his omelette.

“Well he definitely was fully dressed when I brought him back.” Franky points out, waving a fork at Usopp who seems to be trying to set a new record for eating.

“I don’t know where it is, I told you. Last night is… patchy.” Sanji chips in as he makes his way over to the table with two plates in one hand and two mugs in the other. 

“How do you take your coffee? Unless you want me to get you something else?” Sanji says, diverting from the current topic.

“Black?” Zoro says, though his voice almost makes it sound more like a question. He just doesn’t want Sanji getting up for him again, and he’s really not that fussy.

“Enjoy.” Sanji nods, sitting down opposite him and sliding Zoro’s plate and mug of coffee in front of him. 

“I can’t think where it could be.” Sanji says, looking back to Usopp and returning to the previous thread of conversation.

“I love that jacket.” Sanji mopes, pouting a little.

“I know where it is. It’s in my wardrobe.” Zoro blurts out without thinking. He curses himself, he can’t explain how it got there without embarrassing Sanji!

The other all look at him with interest, expecting an explanation but Zoro isn’t going to worsen his mistake so stays silent and awkwardly stares down at his plate. He answered and helped Sanji out, that’s all. He manages to see the slightly horrified look of remembrance cross Sanji’s face though.

“Oh god, I remember now.” Sanji exclaims, his face twisting with mortification. Franky and Usopp turn their interested expressions to Sanji now.

“I went to talk to Zoro last night, then I tried to go back to my room to go to bed and… I got turned around and ended up in Zoro’s wardrobe. I think I took my jacket off and was halfway through my shirt before I realised.” Sanji answers with a groan. Usopp and Franky burst into hysterics, finding the image of the dazed and drunk Sanji stripping in the wrong place side-splittingly funny.

Zoro remains quiet and keeps his head down, he focuses his attention on his food, hoping to get through the rest of the meal without committing any further faux-pas. The French toast on his plate smells great. He picks up a piece and eats it, having to hastily restrain himself from groaning aloud in pleasure. It is unequivocally the best thing that he’s ever eaten. Robin’s words about last night’s food being the second best food that he’d ever eat rings in his mind, she wasn’t kidding! He feels eyes on him and looks up to see Sanji giving him a slow lazy grin whilst Usopp and Franky chatter on obliviously. Zoro freezes under that lazy and slightly secretive smile.

“Good?” The blonde asks him, he clearly knows that it is, it must be written all over his face. He nods with enthusiasm, unwilling to use his mouth for anything other than eating when there is more of this unrivalled taste to be had. It’s perfect of course, ever so slightly sweet with a gorgeous crunch to it from being fried. 

He’s never really understood Luffy’s obsession with food, to him food has always been about fuel and if it was good then that was a bonus, but if Luffy feels like this about all food then Zoro can see where he’s coming from. He realises all too quickly that all his food is gone as the last bit disappears down his throat and the rest of the world filters back into being for him. Usopp and Franky are discussing something about the car but Sanji isn’t talking with them, the blonde is instead smoking and watching him with that same small smile.

Zoro’s years of training kick him, reminding him that one of the best things that he can do is to compliment his master. The psychology lecturer always drummed it into them that a happy master was miles better and safer to be around, so compliments – especially sincere ones- were vital. 

“That was excellent.” He says earnestly. No! Crap! That was the sort of compliment that you gave to a waiter or someone you expected to feed you, not your master. If Sanji is fazed by his ineptitude it doesn’t show though, he just grins in a self-satisfied way around his smoke.

“Yer welcome.” He says making Zoro relax a little. 

An awkward kind of quietness settles between them and Usopp and Franky’s conversation seems to become much louder by comparison. Zoro thinks that he should say something but his mind is blank, and even Sanji is looking away from him at Usopp and Franky. 

“Uh… hey! I’ll show you the car now yeah?” Franky blurts out suddenly to Usopp, standing up so fast that he nearly knocks his chair over.

“But, I’m still-” Usopp protests gesturing to his still unfinished juice and fruit before him.

“Take it with you!” Franky hisses, shoving the man’s glass into his hand and dragging him away.

“Honestly bro, you gotta be subtle about these things, pick up on the vibe you know? Sanji wants to be alone with Zoro, don’t you notice anything?” Franky says to Usopp in a clearly unintentionally loud whisper as he drags him down into the garage. 

“Morons.” Sanji mutters rolling his eyes and rubbing his temples. Zoro wonders how his master’s hangover is coming, it can’t be all that bad by the looks of him.

“Soo… I remember that I came in your room to talk to you last night before I got lost and started getting undressed in your wardrobe. But I don’t really remember what I said before that, so I’ll just start again, yeah? And we can forget that happened.” Sanji says with a slight flush to his cheeks. Zoro nods, it’s understandable that his master wants him to forget that, and Zoro for his part is happy to banish that odd and slightly terrifying memory from his mind.

“First things first,” Sanji starts slowly, tapping the ash from his cigarette into the glass ashtray on the table. He then raises the smoke to his lips and takes a long pull on it before letting out a steady stream of smoke.

“I don’t own you. I don’t care what the institute says, what anyone else says or what this says.” Sanji declares tugging on the golden key on the chain around his neck, the key that fits the padlock at Zoro’s throat.

Zoro’s eyes widen in surprise and he opens his mouth to protest but Sanji cuts him off with a raised hand. 

“No, no. I don’t care what you signed, you can’t sign away your personhood. Now, a job contract on the other hand…” Sanji shrugs. Zoro’s eyes narrow. Sanji is just trying to make himself feel better about owning another person by saying that he’s just employed him, not that he owns him. It makes no difference to Zoro and it makes it no less abhorrent. Sanji continues on anyway, either unaware or uncaring of Zoro’s scepticism. 

“Secondly you’re free to do what you want in your own time, go see who you want, go do what you want, just ask Franky and he’ll take you wherever you want to go. You’ll have access to my bank account too, so don’t worry about that.” Sanji continues on casually. Zoro gawps at this, unable to contain his surprise and not let it show. This kind of thing was beyond what even the most obedient mates might expect after years of good behaviour and it certainly wasn’t something that you were just given right away! Sanji surely couldn’t mean it, could he?

“Thirdly, I’m not some sadist. I don’t intend to harm you at all. Your room and your bed are your own and the company that you choose to keep in there is your own too. I definitely am not expecting you to invite me in out of obligation, I’m not going to lay so much as a finger on you without your permission.” Sanji finishes and takes another breath of smoke, making the tip of his cigarette flare cherry red. 

Zoro stares openly at Sanji in the widening silence. He can’t quite comprehend what he’s just heard. There must be some explanation, maybe this guy likes to think of himself as a “nice guy” but he’ll probably tire of this gentlemanly behaviour in a few weeks and expect Zoro to drag him to bed out of gratitude for his kindness. Even so, it sounds too good to be true.

“What’s the catch?” He asks boldly, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the blonde.

“Ha ha! I like you!” Sanji laughs in a puff of smoke and grins brightly at him.

Zoro waits suspiciously, there has to be some catch. Under his gaze Sanji seems to straighten a little and looks away uncomfortably.

“There’s no catch. But… I do have two conditions.” He says flicking the ash from the end of his cigarette in a bid for more time. Zoro narrows his eyes, of course there is a catch, it just remains to see what it is.

“You can see that I’m pretty particular about my food and how people eat. So I ask that if you’re not going to be at a meal you let me know, otherwise show up and eat all of what you’re served. And if you do miss a meal, especially without telling me then you’d better have a damn good reason, sound fair?” Sanji questions firmly. Zoro considers that condition, it’s not too onerous, there were set meal times at the institute and missing them meant missing a meal or stealing food off of Luffy. He could abide by that.

“Okay.” He agrees with a nod.

“The second condition…” Sanji hesitates looking even more uncomfortable. He takes another pull of his cigarette and nervously flicks more ash even though the cigarette doesn’t need it, he’s stalling. Suspicion and worry prickle at the back of Zoro’s neck.

“I wasn’t the one who applied to get you here, you see? Like I said I don’t believe in owning people. But now that you’re here certain people are going to expect me to behave a certain way towards you and you towards me in public.” Sanji says with an unhappy tone to his voice. 

Zoro’s eyes widen, so he was right, he’s not safe at all from Sanji. So much for not laying a finger on him without his permission! Sanji seems to catch his expression though, whatever it is, horror, revulsion, anger, and leaps back in to explain in a panicky tone.

“I don’t mean anything terrible at all! Nothing like that skeevy photographer wanted! The most that I’d ever do is kiss you, and I’m uncomfortable doing even that without your permission. But if I don’t appear to be… making use of you as it were, we could be separated and that’d be understandably unpleasant for the both of us.” Sanji explains wide eyed and waving his hands as if to waft away Zoro’s fears.

He nods mutely. He knows what happens to slaves, sorry, “mates”, that get returned for not obeying their duties. It’s the same horror that awaits escapees that survive being caught. Sanji is almost certainly alluding to that as a threat, what else could he possibly mean? It’s not like anything bad would happen to Sanji if someone thought that they weren’t doing it behind closed doors, he’s too ultra rich for anyone else to have any power over him at all. Even the law struggles to contain the power and influence of people like Sanji, not that the law protects Zoro in any way. 

“So, we have an agreement?” Sanji asks holding out his hand and smiling sunnily at him. Zoro thinks that this is madness, it’s not like he has any choice but to do what Sanji says, but it seems like the blonde has fetishised the notion of consent, so he may as well humour him.

He leans forward, grasps Sanji’s palm in his own and shakes it. Sanji beams at him and rests his chin on his palm, discarding the cigarette in the ashtray on the table.

“Great! So, Zoro… tell me about yourself.” Sanji smiles at him. Zoro looks away. He feels a moment of something that isn’t panic but it’s something close, a frantic and almost claustrophobic denial that he has to do whatever Sanji says. It’s not a demanding question, it’s not an unreasonable question, he normally wouldn’t mind answering that to someone he didn’t know, but because he has to he doesn’t want to. Nami used to say that he always was deliberately contrary out of spite and that it’d get him in trouble someday. Still, his mouth is quicker at the draw than his brain is, as always.

“Don’t you get sent a file that tells you everything about me so that you don’t have to ask me this?” He mutters in a surly voice. A flare of “fuck you” attitude fires inside him, if Sanji wants to hit him for being disobedient over something so petty then he can, he can take it. At the same time though he realises that it’d be no trouble at all to tell him about how he likes to read, how he likes to train and why, how he likes to get drunk with his friends. But he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t own any physical things (except for possibly his earrings) so all he has are his memories and his identity, so he doesn’t just want to surrender it so easily. 

“You’re right. They sent Robin to me with a file on you yesterday, along with all the legal papers. I haven’t read it, and I don’t plan to either. You don’t get to know things about people by reading a cheat sheet like that.” Sanji answers smoothly. 

Zoro eyes him suspiciously and wonders if that’s really the case of if this is all part of Sanji’s “nice guy” act. He’d bet on the latter. He doesn’t look at Sanji though or speak and instead fiddles with the handle on his mug. Eventually Sanji sighs and stands up.

“Suit yourself moss-head. I’m going to shower and get dressed, then I need to take you to get some clothes that fit.” Sanji announces, putting their plates in the sink and leaving. 

 

Zoro groans and bangs his head on the table. Why is he such a moron? Every day at the institute they reminded him that the first week of being together with his master set the tone for the rest of the relationship, day one especially. And here he is acting like he was bi-polar or something, half defiant asshole and half meek slave. What is he playing at? He needs to shut up his stupid rebellious pride and be the good slave that he was supposed to be or else he’d find himself in hot water.

He’ll be good from now on. He’ll answer questions properly, he’ll say “yes master” and follow the appropriate number of steps behind Sanji when he walks, and he won’t speak unless he’s spoken to. His skin crawls at the thought. He berates himself silently that he’s got no right to complain, he signed himself over to the institute, no one did it for him. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. 

 

It’s not very long at all before Sanji is back down in a blue shirt and with a black tie and trousers, he looks smart but relaxed. His slightly damp hair is curling ever so slightly in the warm air. He leads the way out of the garage and Zoro follows behind him silently and obediently. They arrive in the garage to find Usopp and Franky elbow deep in the bonnet of one of the flying cars as well as a vigorous discussion about what they can do with it. When Franky spies them he ushers them into the back of one of the other flying cars and speeds off into the sky. 

They sit in the back silently with Zoro mentally repeating his new pledge to be good and obedient to himself. Sanji’s interest in finding out anything about him seems to have waned as the blonde sits in silence, looking out the window at the passing buildings, or perhaps he just doesn’t want to try to talk over Franky’s god-awful off key singing along with the radio. 

Franky drops them off on a fancy street and speeds off again into the distance at an inadvisably safe speed. He repeats his mental mantra of obedience and proper behaviour again.

“This way.” Sanji announces, turning down the street and leading the way. 

Zoro grits his teeth and counts six paces of Sanji’s before following him, making sure not to accidentally catch up to the blonde. They don’t get far before Sanji turns around as if looking for him. He spots Zoro and flashes him a puzzled look as Zoro has stopped as well, maintaining the distance between them.

“Come on then.” Sanji frowns at him and starts walking again. Zoro resumes his following, keeping a keen eye on the proper distance between them. 

They barely get five steps before Sanji stops again and turns back to Zoro with the same perplexed and slightly irritated expression on his face.

“What’s the big idea? Why’re you lagging behind back there? Come and walk up here with me.” Sanji orders, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

Zoro nods, he can accept that. Not everyone likes the respectful distance thing, some masters are worried that their mate will use the space to run off, or they could be stolen. Zoro has heard about slaves that were stolen, and he’s new enough that they could prove that Zoro hasn’t had any real contact with Sanji. None that would invalidate his “untouched warrantee” anyway. He could be re-sold at a high price if he was stolen. Perhaps that’s what Sanji is paranoid of. 

“Yes master.” He nods, the words tasting awful in his mouth.

Sanji reaction to that is… not what Zoro had expected. Instead of looking pleased at his obedience and respect he instead looks like someone’s thrown an ice cube down the back of his shirt.

“Zoro! Seriously, don’t call me that. I’m not your master.” Sanji intones slowly, as if speaking to someone stupid. But it’s not him that’s stupid, it’s Sanji. If the rich little blonde thinks that playing nice and telling him not to call him master will change their relationship then he’s a fool. His kneejerk reaction is to argue or to say “yes master” again just to piss him off. But he bites his tongue instead.

“Okay.” He nods obligingly. Sanji gives him a searching look before nodding approvingly and catching Zoro by the crook of his arm and pulling him to walk alongside him. Zoro is reminded instantly of Sanji’s father Spandam pulling him along, digging his claws into Zoro’s arm as he yanked him off to be sold to his son. 

Sanji is technically pulling him alongside him in a similar way but his touch feels different, gentler somehow. The blonde’s fingers slide gently and almost absentmindedly across Zoro’s skin as he talks animatedly about the age of the street that they’re on. Most of all though Zoro is surprised to feel that Sanji seems to have calluses on his hands, now where did a pretty rich boy like Sanji – who’s certainly never worked a day in his life get calluses?

“Oh, here we go, we ought to be able to find something that you like here, they’re the people who do my suits. They’ve been going for over four hundred years you know.” Sanji informs him as he pulls him through the door to the shop.

Zoro looks around as Sanji babbles excitedly to the shopkeeper, tuning him out already. He’s going on about something like how whatever he gets should fit Zoro’s natural style or some crap like that. 

The shop around them is rich, clearly from clientele like Sanji visiting often and lining their pockets. The plush furnishings of the shop speak of leisure and luxury, with soft velvet chaise lounges and even a goddamn chandelier in the ceiling. The walls too have very few suits on them, mostly pictures and swathes of fabric. Everything here must be bespoke made and nothing has a price tag, clearly telling anyone who might care to know that if you have to ask how much something costs you probably can’t afford it. Rich bastards.

He and Sanji are taken into a private room with the snooty looking guy who seems to own the shop. The room is lined with mirrors and has a raised platform which Zoro is lead onto. The snooty guy first peels off the overshirt that Zoro is wearing with an expression of distaste and then throws it over a chair with an expression like an owner of a cat might have when the pet has brought in a dead mouse. He then starts measuring him for suits whilst talking to Sanji about the kind of suit in words that mean nothing to Zoro, it’s all lapels and hemlines and confusion. The shirt that he’s wearing underneath is thankfully tight enough that the guy doesn’t seem to feel the need to remove it to measure him. 

As the snooty old guy measures him he jots down notes and talks to Sanji who’s busy looking at fabrics. He talks about him to Sanji as if he isn’t even there. It’s too much like yesterday when everyone spoke about him as if he either wasn’t there or was too stupid to understand speech. He feels his temper rising.

“Did it take you long to pick him out?” The suit guy asks to Sanji as he flicks through several fabrics which, to Zoro, all look like identical shades of black and grey. 

“I didn’t really have much to do with the process.” Sanji answers offhandedly as he selects one and puts it on a chair arm. 

“The ceremony was yesterday wasn’t it? Lady Robin picked up a tonne of suits from here in all sizes and cuts yesterday. It was most odd, but she said it was for your ceremony.” The suit guy says measuring around Zoro’s neck. 

Interesting. Zoro thinks to himself.

“Hm? Yes, it all happened pretty quickly really.” Sanji responds, plucking a green shirt fabric from a stack of similar ones. 

“Ah, that first night is great. I remember my first night with my mate. Hah, I’m surprised that this one can walk properly today! Ha ha!” The man laughs slapping Zoro on the shoulder. Zoro glowers, he’s getting really fucking sick of people laughing and slapping him on the shoulder. It must be said though that he’s pretty surprised that he’s walking properly today too.

“Do you have something a little more off white than this? Not so cream coloured?” Sanji asks, pulling out a creamy fabric. He’s pretending like he hasn’t heard but there’s no way that could be the case, he’s just ignoring the question.

“Oh yes, I think we have something out the back in more of an oyster.” The guy answers, distracted from his previous lecherous topic.

“That’d be good.” Sanji nods, turning back to the fabric. 

The man continues measuring him, wrapping the tape around his lean waist and then around his broad chest. The guy whistles approvingly and jots down the numbers.

“You got pretty lucky with this one Sir, although with your position I doubt that luck had much to do with it! He’s got an excelled physique, very healthy, a real stallion.” The suit maker nods, running his hand up Zoro’s abs.

“I’m not a fucking horse!” Zoro snarls and smacks the man’s hand away without thinking. The jaw of the suit maker drops in horror at Zoro’s words and he distinctly catches Sanji’s loud laugh which quickly turns into an unconvincing coughing fit.

“Ahem, sorry about that, too much smoking I bet. Did you say something?” Sanji asks innocently, with a look so angelic on his face that you’d never dream of repeating Zoro’s words to him.

“Ah, no.” The suit guy stammers, clearly thrown off balance. 

“Wonderful. Are we done here? I’d like six suits in a variety of cuts, I trust your judgement, in these fabrics. And twelve shirts in those, two each. I trust that we can come back to you with any alterations. Well, you have my details, bye!” Sanji says in one long stream in a tight voice.

He is dragged out of there by the arm as Sanji pulls him out of the room, out of the shop and into an alleyway. He suspects that the blonde is angry at him despite his initial amusement, it would explain why his voice suddenly got tight, until he collapses into hysterics against Zoro’s shoulder in the alleyway. The blonde’s shoulders are shaking with brilliantly bright laughter that Zoro can feel reverberating through his chest as much as he can hear it. 

“Oh man, ‘not a fucking horse!’ that’s GREAT! His face!” Sanji howls with laughter falling back against the opposite wall and laughing harder. A grin starts to tug at the edges of Zoro’s mouth because, yeah, the snooty shop guy’s face was pretty priceless and Sanji doesn’t seem mad at him. The blonde’s amusement is infectious and Zoro’s can’t stop the grin spreading over his face.

Eventually Sanji’s laughter subsides into occasional snickers as he pulls out a cigarette from his jacket, his one visible blue eye still sparkling with mirth.

“You know, you’re pretty shitty at this whole being a polite obedient mate thing you know.” Sanji comments cupping the cigarette from the wind as he lights it. Zoro feels the grin that had crept onto his face fall off instantly.

“You’re trying to do things like say ‘yes master’ and walking all meekly. You manage it for like five minutes before you crack and curse out my suit maker!” Sanji laughs loudly. 

He feels himself start to panic, Sanji wasn’t laughing with him, he was laughing at him! He’s in trouble!

“Ah, no. Don’t look at me like that. I like it.” The blonde says with a smile, having caught his worried expression. 

The blonde pushes away from the wall and steps closer to Zoro who stays warily still, he’s still not managed to work out how to read this guy.

“How about this, unless I tell you that we’re in company that we both have to behave in, you just relax, okay?” Sanji suggests, his cigarette held between his teeth as he grins.

Zoro nods mutely, still unsure of the situation. 

“I suppose at least I learned something new about you, and I didn’t have to read your file to learn it either.” The blonde adds smugly as he dusts his suit down from the dusty alleyway wall.

“What? That I talk first and think later?” Zoro says doing just that and kicking himself mentally for it. Nami always used to accuse him of doing that, but with how conniving she could be he’d never thought that it was bad not to be like her. She would never speak so stupidly like him around someone like Sanji.

“That and you’ve got quite a mouth on you.” Sanji agrees with a laugh. 

Zoro allows himself to relax a little and a thought quietly occurs to him, every time he’s been anxious about Sanji it’s seemed to be unfounded. The blonde hasn’t hurt him yet or been angry at him yet. But perhaps it was just part of the “nice guy” game that the rich man was playing with him. 

“Hey, follow me. I wanna take you somewhere. After all, I’ve learnt something about you, you should learn something about me.” He announces jogging down the alleyway without checking to see if Zoro is following him. 

He has no choice but to follow the blonde, he couldn’t get back to the manor house on his own, he didn’t know Franky’s number to call him and no idea what direction Sanji’s home was even in. So he follows, not that he can see where his master is going to go, the alleyway ends in a seven foot chain link fence.

In one smooth move Sanji jumps the fence and lands in a jog on the other side. He stops and stares openly at the blonde, when did he learn to do something like that? Sanji seems to realise that he’s not following anymore and turns to face the fence. He saunters over all cockily and leans on the fence, threading his fingers through it and leaning into Zoro’s face.

“What’s the matter moss-brain? Can’t keep up?” Sanji taunts him with smoky breath, that damn cigarette still clenched between his grinning teeth.

“I could out run and out climb you any day.” He retorts without thinking, his pride and his mouth speaking without consulting his brain.

“Hah, let’s see it then.” Sanji laughs and steps back from the fence invitingly.

Zoro leaps at the fence, his arms pulling him up the top half easily with a kick of his foot to assist. He perches nimbly on the top for a moment before dropping to the floor before Sanji and standing up smugly. A brilliant laugh bubbles out of the blonde who turns and runs off without saying anything else, the unspoken “follow this then” is enough to make Zoro grin and chase after him.

The two of them sprint over and above the city, running down alleyways, jumping walls and climbing fences, leaping off of rooftops and dodging angry residents and shopkeepers. Zoro can’t believe this, Sanji is running like he stole something and is avoiding the cops. Where on earth did the blonde learn to run like him? He, Luffy and Ace used to run through the city like this together but that usually was because they had stolen something or someone bigger and meaner than them was trying to catch them. So where on earth did a pretty rich boy like Sanji get the experience to do this?

They eventually skid to a breathless halt outside of a restaurant not too far from Luffy’s neighbourhood. Sanji grins and his eyes sparkle happily, Zoro had of course kept up with him the whole way.

“Come on in, I want you to meet my family.” Sanji pants opening the door to the restaurant.

“I’ve already met your family yesterday, remember?” Zoro frowns wrinkling his nose in distaste at the idea of having to spend any more time with Sanji’s vile family.

“No, you met the people that I unfortunately share DNA with. This is my family.” Sanji grins pulling him inside the restaurant.


	4. Chapter 4

The Baratie is by far the oddest restaurant that Zoro has ever been in. Admittedly he’s not been in loads, mates don’t get their own money to spend and he was never supposed to leave the institute grounds anyway. That said, he and Nami had visited a few restaurants when they were younger and dined and dashed. Even with his, admittedly limited, experience nothing prepared him for this. The cooks all swore and fought with each other at the slightest provocation, and none of them looked in any way professional, they looked like a prison break out plan that involved dressing up as chefs to escape!

He’d expected too that Sanji would maybe talk business with the owner, perhaps this was a business he was invested in, and then introduce him to a few close friends that he might deem his family who would certainly be patrons, not any of these people, and then leave. He didn’t expect Sanji to just roll up his sleeves and get into cooking along with the others.

All Sanji had said was “This is Zoro, be nice. Oh god, give me that onion you bastard you’re mutilating it!” and that was it!

So now he’s standing there in the kitchen feeling awkward whilst trying to stay out of everyone’s way until an old man with the oddest braided moustache and the tallest chef’s hat that Zoro has ever seen hobbles in on a peg leg and looks at him assessingly.

“Is this him?” The old man asks with a grunt, his eyes lingering on the collar at Zoro’s throat.

“Who else would it be Zeff? His name is Zoro.” Sanji answers sarcastically as his knife flies through a bunch of herbs, answering Zoro’s earlier silent question about how a rich boy like Sanji could get calluses, he cooks, and he must do it a lot to get calluses like that.

“Hn.” Zeff grunts in a particularly un-illuminating way. 

“Can I do anything to help then, since I’m here?” Zoro offers helpfully, he really doesn’t want to stand here all day doing nothing. 

“I don’t know. Can you?” Zeff asks him with a raised bushy eyebrow.

“I can’t cook. But I can clean, or move heavy shit for you.” Zoro offers. He considers Zeff’s attitude a little more and Sanji’s too.

“Alternatively, you can bite me.” He adds and hears Sanji laugh loudly in the background again.

“Watch it seaweed head, I could kick your ass for that.” Zeff threatens, his eyes narrowing at him.

Zoro considers that and look at the old man, he’s broad and well built with a hint of old muscles. He’s missing half a leg below the knee but he can see dents and stains the in wood of his peg leg that can’t be explained by normal wear. 

“Yeah, I bet you’d give a run for my money too. But you’d have done it already if you were going to.” Zoro says after a few moments of consideration.

“Hah! I like this guy, how did you find him? I thought that you said your shitty father was punishing you with this whole mate thing.” Zeff laughs, his moustache twitching in amusement. 

“Robin, I guess.” Sanji shrugs, dumping the herbs that he’s done with into a simmering pot.

“Is there anything that woman doesn’t have her hand in?” Zeff chuckles. 

“You can take the trash out and move the empty beer barrels outside so the drivers can pick ‘em up.” Zeff says turning back to him.

Zoro nods and gets to work. He doesn’t mind the manual labour at all, and it’s nice to feel useful whilst Sanji is cooking. He’s not too far through his job before he’s stopped by one of the other cooks.

“Oi, squidface.” The guy says stepping in his way.

“Squidface?!” Zoro balks both offended and confused.

“It’ll be nice having a dog around here, you’ll have to do whatever I tell you! Go unclog the toilet!” The guy laughs at him, ignoring his objection to the insult.

Zoro rolls his eyes, he’s familiar enough with this, the guy doesn’t actually care all that much if he does what he wants, he just wants the thrill of the power to be able to make him do it. He notices though that Sanji’s chopping has slowed and the blonde has tilted his head slightly in their direction, he’s listening.

“No I don’t.” Zoro states, giving the guy a deliberately bored look. As always, that throws the guy, it’s not how guys like that ever see this conversation going.

“Yes you do! You’ve got one of those on and I don’t!” The guy splutters and jabs at his collar, Zoro leans back away from the man’s grabby fingers. He really doesn’t like people touching his collar, even Luffy knows not to.

“Huh, you got a key to it bastard?” He retorts instead, thumbing the heavy golden padlock that hangs weightily at his throat.

“You have to do what I say!” The guy blusters irrationally. Zoro rolls his eyes again, this conversation is just going to go in circles now.

“Sanji, do I have to do what this guy says?” Zoro sighs reluctantly looking over at his master.

“Hell no, I never do.” Sanji says cockily.

“You jumped up sous-chef! Don’t spoil my fun!” The guy shouts at Sanji.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak Neanderthal!” the blonde snarls back at him. 

Zoro stands there in mingled surprise and amusement as Sanji and the chef shout increasingly elaborate and angry insults at each other, it’s almost like watching tennis volleys going back and forth. 

“I should kick your ass for your insolence shrimp!” the guy snaps angrily, pushing right up into Sanji’s face by this time.

“If anyone’ll be doing any kicking here it’ll be me! Maybe I should rearrange your face for you, it could only be an improvement!” the blonde retorts.

Zoro grins and leaves them to it. He thinks that he’s starting to understand a little now about what Sanji meant about family. He always thought of Nami as family. He often didn’t like Nami, she was bossy and self important, mean with money and sneaky as a snake. But he loved her, she was dear to him and he’d kill anyone who hurt her. And despite what she said about him he knew from experience that she was his biggest defender to anyone who really meant him harm. That was what family was. Friends were people that you liked and hung out with, family were people that you loved in your bones even when you couldn’t stand them. 

Watching Sanji and the other cook, he thinks that he must find out his name, he feels a little homesick for Nami. He misses her deeply. 

Shoving down the note of sadness he walks out into the alleyway again with the empty metal barrel and stacks it with the others, he’s still got a few left to put out but he’ll be done soon. He looks up as some sense tells him that he’s being watched. Sure enough at the mouth of the alleyway are two skeevy looking guys walking towards him and he doesn’t like the way that they’re eyeing his collar. 

“Hey look, it’s a little whore.” The first laughs meanly to the second. Zoro forces himself to relax and stand up a little straighter. He assesses the first guy, he’s taller than Zoro is and broad but not muscled really, a little weak looking. He does, however, have a metal baseball bat on his shoulder that is making Zoro wary. The other guy looks easy enough to beat in a fight, the kind of big guy who thinks that just because he’s big means that he’s strong when really he’s just broadly built and chubby.

“I’ve never seen him around here before. You think this joint owns him?” The other suggests eyeing the Baratie with what probably passes for thought in his head.

“Probably, I bet that they all take turns fucking him.” The first says dragging predatory eyes down Zoro, leaving him feeling dirty in a way that he knows from experience doesn’t wash off with soap and water.

“Hey, let me have go with him first.” The second guy says with a filthy grin as he advances closer down the alleyway towards him, he’s only six feet or so away now. 

“No way! I’m not having your sloppy seconds!” The bat guy protests loudly, waving his bat around as he talks.

“How about you both just get lost so I don’t kick your asses?” Zoro growls at them.

“I’ll beat some respect into you, slut!” Baseball bat guy snarls, leaping for Zoro with his bat raised.

Zoro steps into the attack quickly, making the guy’s swing go wide. He ducks the bat and quickly shoots out with his hand and grabs the guy’s wrist. He slams his wrist hard enough into the brick wall to make baseball bat guy drop the offending weapon. He yanks the guy’s wrist back and punches him so hard in the elbow that he hears the joint explode.

He turns towards the other guy with the intention of threatening further harm to his friend if he doesn’t leave now, but the guy clearly doesn’t care. He’s on Zoro before he can react, grabbing a fistful of Zoro’s hair and slamming him face first into the wall. Zoro tastes blood.

He’s about to lash back with his head and splatter the guy’s nose across his face when he feels the guy’s hand yank from his hair and skid over his collar with a scream.

He spins to see the guy sprawled six feet down the alleyway, clutching at his ribs and groaning. Standing before him now, just where that guy had been a moment ago is Sanji. The blonde lowers his foot back to the ground, his balance shifting back to standing seamlessly and Zoro realises that the blonde some how kicked the guy that far. Sanji’s face is a picture of undiluted fury and Zoro can’t help but shrink back away from it against the wall, used as he is to associating that kind of rage from people like Sanji to unpleasant things that he can’t escape. 

Sanji is the one person that he’s not allowed to fight off, and if Sanji’s violent streak is as bad as Usopp and Franky have been hinting there’s no promise that it’ll stop with that guy. But the blonde’s icy blue gaze turns to him and melts instantly, leaving the cook’s face a picture of gentle concern and worry. 

“Zoro! You’re hurt!” the cook exclaims, reaching for him. To his shame he flinches when Sanji’s hand touches his cheek, it must be the adrenaline from the fight, nothing more. He’s not scared of Sanji. His senses flick back on and his face floods with pain, centring around his nose. His chin feels hot and wet and his mouth tastes like pennies. He presses the back of his hand to his face and pulls it away covered in crimson blood.

“Here.” Sanji says pressing a white handkerchief from his pocket into Zoro’s hand. He presses it to his bleeding nose hoping to staunch the flow.

“Is it broken? Are you okay?” Sanji asks, blue eyes wide with concern and one pale hand cupping Zoro’s jaw.

“It’s just bleeding is all. I’m fine, I’ve had far worse.” He says shrugging away from Sanji’s touch, his voice distorted by the handkerchief pressed to his bleeding nose. This doesn’t seem to ease the visage of worry on the blonde’s face though.

“You fucking whore, I’ll kill you!” Baseball bat thug snarls at him from the floor, clutching his broken arm. 

“Say that again and I’ll kick your teeth in and cut out your tongue!” Sanji threatens the guy, his face turning vicious again.

Zoro winces and heads back inside past Sanji. He should probably get something to press against his nose that isn’t Sanji’s expensive snow white handkerchief, at the very least he should get his face over a sink. He makes his way through the bustling kitchen towards a large empty sink at the back and leans over it. He pulls the handkerchief from his face to discover that the blood is still freely flowing from his nose. He hates nosebleeds, they just go on forever, they’re almost as profusely bleeding as scalp wounds like that. But at least cuts to his head don’t stop him talking properly and fuck with his sense of taste for ages or make his eyes water instinctively. He breathes through his mouth over the steel sink as blood drips against the metal and he resists the urge to sniff and aerosolise blood into his throat and lungs. 

“Zoro, I am so sorry. Those bastards will never come back here, I promise.” Sanji’s voice says by his ear as he presses a warm hand between his shoulder blades. 

“It’s fine.” He says thickly and spits blood into the sink.

“It’s not fine.” Sanji disagrees and rubs circles into Zoro back in what he clearly thinks is a soothing gesture. He doesn’t care enough to stop the cook and if it makes him happy then great.

“I’ve had worse before. You always get guys like that.” He adds. Sanji’s hand stops at that for a second before resuming.

“You’ve got quite a punch on you.” Sanji says in an amused tone a few moments later. Zoro glances up over his shoulder and sees a secretive little grin on the blonde’s face. 

“Well, you kicked that guy pretty far too.” Zoro shrugs and runs the tap. He washes the blood off of his chin and gently off of his nose too so as to not risk starting the full flow of bleeding up again.

“You should see me in a real fight.” Sanji says in a smug little tone, taking his hand from Zoro’s back now and leaning against the sink with his back and grinning at Zoro.

“Same.” Zoro agrees with a nod. He presses a paper towel to his nose, it comes back with almost no blood. It’s finally stopping. 

Sanji glances back towards the door that leads to the alleyway and scowls.

“I heard those guys you know, I can’t believe that they said that to you!” Sanji fumes folding his arms huffily. Zoro’s gaze slides up to Sanji, the blonde is really irate, almost as if someone has insulted him personally instead of Zoro.

“Which bit?” He frowns. He’s no idea at what point Sanji came into the alleyway so he doesn’t know what the guy even heard. All he knows is that one moment he was alone in the fight, the next he got a face full of wall and then, suddenly, Sanji was there. 

“Where that asshole called you a- a-” Sanji exclaims unable to even finish his sentence. Zoro’s eyes narrow at him, Sanji can’t even say what he is and yet he owns him.

“Whore?” He grumbles bitterly and rubs at his nose with a tissue. He’s not bleeding any more, he throws the tissue into the bin a little more forcefully than necessary.

“Yes! How dare they say that to you?!” Sanji insists looking at him wide eyed. 

“It’s not like it’s not true.” Zoro points out with anger fuelled by frustration and shame. He glares and Sanji angrily but the blonde is just looking at him with wide blue-eyed horror. Zoro feels rage coil deeply in his belly, this rich guy will never understand what it’s like to be in his position, with all of his money he’ll never know what it’s like to be desperate or alone. He’ll never have to make hard choices in his life and live with the consequences, he’ll never have to look his morals in the eye and realise that he’ll have to compromise one. He realises with self-loathing that he’d actually started to warm to Sanji, how pathetic is that? All the blonde had done was be reasonably nice to him and he’d rolled over like a dog getting it’s belly rubbed.

“Zoro! Don’t say that, you’re not a…” Sanji trails off, again he can’t even say the word.

“A whore?! Sure I am, a whore is someone who has sex for money. They paid me when I agreed to wear this thing!” He snarls at the blonde, leaning into his space and using his size to intimidate the cook. The blonde stumbles backwards away from him.

“But that’s not the same! I mean, sure they paid you, but-” Sanji protests. 

Zoro scowls at him. Sanji is so clean in his so called morality, he won’t pay anyone for sex, no never. And he wouldn’t force anyone to have sex, of course not. But he’s fine with paying for someone to live with him without their consent and, hey, if that person is grateful enough that they decide to have sex with you then that’s fine and totally different, isn’t it? Bullshit. 

“Well, you bought me, and that’s what I’m for.” He growls and tries to push past the blonde. He needs to get out of here and he’s grateful for the fact that no one seems to be staring at him. 

“Come back here! Listen to me!” Sanji shouts, grabbing his arm and hauling him back. Zoro relaxes into it and lets himself be pulled back. Sanji grabs him close and pulls at his jaw so that he has to look at him. Zoro makes eye contact but he knows that his eyes must be showing how he feels, how he hates Sanji.

“You’re a human being Zoro. You’re not for anything, you’re a person.” Sanji says quietly, looking at him meaningfully. 

“Whatever you say, master.” He answers flatly.

Zoro supposes that Sanji’s expression could be called hurt, if the blonde had feelings of course, which he doesn’t, bastard. He pulls his arm back out of Sanji’s grip, the blonde’s fingers just fall limply away. He pushes past Sanji, snags another barrel from the ground and heads back out to the alleyway, he’ll take his chances out there again.

They don’t stay too long after that and by the time they get back to Sanji’s house it’s almost time to eat again and the blonde sets to cooking wordlessly. Zoro slides off elsewhere, not wanting to be around Sanji if he can help it. He wanders outside the house and finds a bench that looks out over the expansive grounds that the house is set in. He sighs to himself and watches the sun set. 

Sanji must genuinely think that he’s mad, and he’s not all too sure that he’s not right about that. Mentally he knows his place, he knows what he signed and he knows what that makes him – as he said, the guy in the alleyway wasn’t exactly wrong. But still, despite all the urgings of his head his heart and his pride rebel at the idea. His pride refuses to let him be someone’s toy, someone’s plaything, and that disturbs him because he had thought he’d killed his foolish pride years ago. But at the same time something deep inside of him is urging him that Sanji isn’t what he keeps thinking that he is, his gut is trying to tell him that Sanji is no threat to him. 

He snorts at his own foolishness. Sure, Sanji speaks prettily enough, he says the right things but he’s got no reason to believe him. And yet… the rich boy seems to have convinced a large part of him that it’s true. The way that he runs, the way that he relates to everyone at the Baratie, the way that Sanji speaks to him, none of those are things that fit into this idea of the sadistic pervert that Zoro had built up in his head over the years. 

But, his head points out, a good man wouldn’t buy him in the first place. It wasn’t as if it was mandatory for rich people. And even if it had been Sanji’s father’s idea to buy him, the blonde could have refused surely? If he was really a good man and knew what Zoro was going to be there for he would have fought the idea. Again his gut is whispering to him that there’s more going on here than he knows. 

The sliding glass doors behind him open, jolting him into alertness. He twists to look over his shoulder to see Sanji walking towards him with a plate and a glass. The blonde hesitates under his stare but then walks towards him a little more briskly. 

“Dinner’s ready, I didn’t- you didn’t look like you wanted to eat inside with us. So… I thought I’d bring it out here for you.” Sanji explains as he comes to a stop by the bench.

“Although, if you do want to come inside you’re more than welcome. Whichever you want.” The blonde adds a little awkwardly. 

Zoro says nothing and looks up at his master. He looks almost like he’s trying to apologise but doesn’t know how, he’s practically glowing with embarrassment and awkwardness, as if he was the one supposed seeking Zoro’s approval instead of the other way around. 

“I still don’t really know what you like or anything, and you didn’t say, so I just made what Usopp asked for. It’s a chicken curry, it’s quite good. If you don’t like it though I’m sure I can make something else.” Sanji babbles and places the delicious smelling plate on the bench next to Zoro and the glass on the arm of the bench. 

“Thanks.” He says simply. 

Sanji looks at him in surprise and gratitude, probably pleased at having his increasingly awkward blathering interrupted. Sanji’s eyes drop down his face and settle on Zoro’s nose.

“You’re bruised, does it hurt?” Sanji asks reaching for him but his hand freezing halfway.

“I’m fine, like I said, I’ve had worse.” Zoro shrugs Sanji looks almost pained at hearing that again.

“Sorry, I’ll stop saying that if it upsets you so much.” Zoro says eyeing Sanji. He looks away and picks up his plate, spearing some chicken with his fork and blowing on it to cool it down. 

“You don’t have to stop saying it if it’s true, I just wish it wasn’t. But it’s not like I can protect you from things that have already happened. I just don’t like the idea is all.” Sanji sighs and walks around the bench to sit on the other end of it. 

Zoro shrugs and eats his chicken, what can he possibly say to that? The chicken is good, really good actually. It’s perhaps spicier than he’d usually have it but surprisingly nice, Sanji really does have a gift.

“Zeff seemed to like you by the way, particularly since you pissed of Patty and shouted at me. He has a soft spot for people who stand up for themselves.” Sanji adds, looking at him sidelong. 

Zoro puts his plate down in his lap and asks the question that had been bothering him since they arrived at the Baratie earlier in the day.

“Who is Zeff? You said he was family but…” Zoro trails off, not wanting to say “that makes no sense”.

“Ah. Yes. He’s like a father to me, much more so than the man who actually calls himself that. He kind of was my father for a few years there, he pretty much adopted me.” The blonde says wistfully, wrapping his hands around his knee as he rests his foot on the bench and leans back, staring at the sunset. 

“When I was younger, about ten or so, my mother and I had gone onto a ship. I can’t even remember why or where we were going, a lot of my memory then is a little… vague. The ship got caught in a storm and another ship pulled alongside us, I don’t remember why, but the storm tossed the ships together, sinking both. I saw my mother drown as Zeff pulled me from the water, he tried to save her but when he dived back in he couldn’t find her, in the end it was just him and me that survived.” Sanji says in a distant voice, his eyes unfocused at the sky as if he can still see it all now.

“I’m sorry.” Zoro volunteers he’d never known his parents really, nothing more than vague memories, a song or a voice was all he really had of them. They died when he was young so he never had the opportunity to miss them.

“It wasn’t anyone’s fault, no one alive anyway. But… it changed me. Zeff and I nearly starved to death before we were rescued, and when we got back to dry land I didn’t see any point in tracking down my father. I hated him even then so I stayed with Zeff, I lied and said that both of my parents had been on the ship instead of just my mother.” Sanji says lightly, as if this wasn’t something serious to talk about. 

“I lived with Zeff for years, we set up the Baratie together and he taught me to cook. It wasn’t exactly easy and there were plenty of times that we weren’t sure if we were going to lose everything and starve all over again. But, as you saw, the Baratie pulled through. When I was sixteen though my father found me, just by chance really.” The blonde says, his expression hardening. 

“Have you ever… have you ever been in a situation where you made a decision that you regretted? As if your life was at a crossroads and you did what you thought you had to… only to realise that you should have chosen differently?” Sanji asks, looking at him earnestly. 

“What do you think?” Zoro responds flatly, as if he didn’t have a big shock collar around his neck with a heavy gold padlock attached to it.

“Sorry.” Sanji apologises quickly and looks away, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 

The blonde falls silent but Zoro can’t help his curiosity.

“What was your decision?” He asks quietly. Sanji looks over at him for a second, as if to be sure that he means his question and isn’t just mocking him.

“I’m my father’s only child, and his only son no less. Without me his controlling share in his company and everything he has when he dies will go to my uncle and my cousins, which my father doesn’t want. So when he discovered that I was alive and not dead as he’d thought, he demanded that I return with him, become his rightful heir again. He said that if I did he’d repay Zeff considerably for his care of me, and if I didn’t… well… he’d shut down the Baratie and do everything that he could to destroy the old man’s life. It didn’t seem like much of a choice at the time.” Sanji says with a sigh. 

“I should have said no, I should have trusted Zeff to take care of us. We could have escaped and tried to start all over again somewhere else. But I tried to be a hero, and now I’m stuck here. I was never so happy as I was when I was with Zeff and never so miserable as I was with my father.” Sanji says quietly. 

“And now?” Zoro asks curiously. 

“Now… now is better. I’m still under my father’s thumb, hence why you’ve been dragged into this. But… I get to see Zeff and cook with him, and I get to do what I want with my own money, but equally I have to show up and act as expected when I’m invited to stupid parties and events. So I’m hovering around neutral really.” The cook sighs and looks over at him.

“You look surprised, you thought that I’d always been rich and spoiled huh?” Sanji smirks at him.

“Well that’s not exactly a typical story is it?” Zoro retorts, even as his brain quietly admits that, yes, he had thought that.

Zoro looks down at his plate and shuffles some of the food around on it as he thinks everything over.

“Aren’t you hungry? I’m here eating and you’re not.” He says, quickly changing the subject. 

“Oh, my food is inside. I didn’t think you’d want me staying out here with you, so I didn’t bring it with me.” Sanji shrugs indifferently. 

“It’ll get cold if you leave it.” He says standing up with his half full plate and glass and heading inside. He doesn’t look back but he hears the click of Sanji’s polished shoes following him. He walks through the open sliding glass doors and into Sanji’s dining room. Franky and Usopp’s plates are already clean of food and their chairs empty. Sanji’s plate sits untouched opposite an empty chair. 

Zoro sits down in his place and puts his plate back on the table and continues on eating as if nothing was amiss. After a moment Sanji slides into his own chair and starts on his own dinner. The two of them eat in a silence that whilst it’s not a friendly comfortable silence is certainly a lot less tense and uncomfortable than any that they’ve shared thus far.

 

Zoro awakes from an uneasy sleep that night with no idea of what woke him. He freezes in his bed as the panicky idea that Sanji might be sneaking into his room comes over him. With that in mind he scrambles to the lamp at his bedside and switches it on, he’s alone. Of course he is. There’s no Sanji but also no sign of whatever woke him so suddenly.

He sits up in bed and yawns so hard that it makes his jaw crack. He thinks that he can hear it raining outside quite hard. It wasn’t raining when he went to sleep, was that possibly what woke him?

A dripping sound catches his attention, it’s loud and repetitive, sounding every five seconds or so. It’s an annoying, grating sound and probably what actually woke him. He hops out of the thick comfy bed and throws back the warm covers. He walks through his room in his new luxurious pyjamas, after dinner Usopp had gone out with a list of his measurements from the suit maker and bought Zoro a tonne of normal clothes the fill half of his wardrobe. 

He’s never owned anything as nice as them, and he irritably reminds himself that he still doesn’t, Sanji owns him and also all of the nice clothes that now come with him. He pauses and breathes calmly for a second, it’s too easy to get angry at Sanji but today had been rather enlightening as far as the blonde was concerned. Besides, anger isn’t going to get him anywhere.

He shakes his thoughts away and follows the dripping sound. He goes into his bathroom and wrenches the expensive taps further into their off positions. The dripping sound continues but is somehow quieter. He looks at the taps in puzzlement, they’re not dripping at all. 

With a frown he walks back into his bedroom and finds that the dripping sound is louder again but still muted somewhat. He tilts his head and follows the sound. He opens his bedroom door out into the hallway, the sound is louder out here. He pads down the hallway following the irritating dripping sound as it gets louder.

He reaches the door at the very end of the hallway, it’s ajar and the dripping seems louder through there. With a cautious look around him to make sure that no one is watching him he pushes the door open. The room seems to be an office of some kind with big wide bookcases and a large ornate desk by the windows. One of the windows higher up is slightly open in fact. The rain is hitting it and dripping off of the bottom of the frame onto a large puddle that’s now formed on the windowsill. He closes the window and the accursed dripping noise stops. He sighs in relief. He gives some thought to mopping up the puddle but he sees nothing around obviously at hand in the darkened room to use so he decides to leave it. 

He turns to leave and catches his toe painfully on the thick oak leg of the desk. He stumbles and knocks over the waster paper bin whilst trying to resist swearing loudly. He doesn’t want to wake Sanji up after all, and by his calculation Sanji’s room is just next door to this. 

He hops over to the bin, biting his lip to keep quiet. He kneels down and rights the bin and grabs what fell out of it. There just seems to have been a rather weighty envelope in it and nothing else. He picks it up but freezes as he stands up with it and catches its seal in the moonlight. It’s the institute’s seal! He gasps and touches it but it seems unbroken and attached firmly to the envelope, it’s unopened!

Hurriedly he shoves the envelope up his pyjama shirt and scrambles silently out of the room, carefully leaving the door ajar as he found it. He dashes silently down the corridor and back into his room, he shuts himself in his room and drops his stolen prize onto his large bed.

The envelope on closer inspection in the lamp light is definitely unopened, the wax of the institute’s seal is unmarred. He checks the bottom of the envelope but the glue holding that down is still untouched too, if it has been opened by anyone Zoro can’t see how.

He clambers onto his bed and sits cross legged on the covers. He pulls the envelope onto his lap and with a bracing breath slides his thumb under the seal breaking it. He upends the manila envelope onto his bed and a large file falls out.

It is what he expected it to be, the tab on the corner of his file has his name written on it, it’s probably spent most of its life in a filing cabinet in the institute. He flicks it open. The first page inside the file has his name and basic details about him, date of birth, height, weight, eye colour and so on. This must have been the report that Robin gave to Sanji about him, and true to what Sanji said it seems that he never did open it. 

Within the file down the side are various coloured tabs, each with a little heading on them so that you can flick between sections. Curiously he turns to the tab labelled “physiology”. It’s mostly about his health, medical history, reports on various times that he’s been sick over the years and what the institute’s medical doctors had to give him. He supposes that’s useful for Sanji to have if he ever has to go to the hospital in the future. There’s a short summary of his health that states that on the whole he’s a healthy person who is not prone to illness and that despite his scars none of his injuries have left him with permanent health problems. Zoro absently rubs the scar on his chest that runs diagonally from collar bone to hip bone and thanks his lucky stars that he was fine after that. 

He flicks then to the academic section, within that each of his teachers have given him a write up about how he did in their subjects and their recommendations or observations about him. His music teacher notes that he’s a nice student and although musically untalented is versed enough about music to be able to hold a decent conversation about it, after all being able to talk about things to rich people at parties was half of the point of his training in anything. 

His literature teacher has given him a glowing report about his intellect and passion for reading, he’d always liked that teacher better than his predecessor who had a marked distaste for him. His dance teacher notes that whilst Zoro is a passable dance partner, and Zoro can practically hear the woman’s weary displeased voice as he reads her words, he would do much better if he focused on learning how to dance whether it interested him or not. He didn’t mind dancing but it was so dull. It didn’t help that Nami always made him practice with her so that she could get better, so when it came to actually doing it in class he was just as inclined to fall asleep as he was to dance.

His blood runs cold though when he comes to the section written by his behaviour teacher, the very one that had been getting a blowjob whilst teaching the last time that Zoro had walked past his classroom. Zoro hated that scumbag. The man was a real slimeball and Zoro was convinced that he only held the position that he did so that he could exploit mates-in-training like him. He loathed the man and the feeling had been mutual ever since he had wrenched the man’s lecherous hands off of Nami once after class and broken his jaw. 

The man’s report and recommendation on him reads:

“Zoro’s disobedient and feisty nature can, in my expert opinion, only be corrected by a firm hand a forced sexual submission. Whilst he was a habitually absent student from my classes he has passed the written exams well enough to be prepared for his new master. Zoro will certainly require emotional reconditioning if he is to be of any use to any master, it is my recommendation that Zoro be assigned to a master who would enjoy such as task. Zoro does not fear physical pain so psychological reconditioning will be far more effective. I shall be happy to provide further, more detailed advice upon request.” 

“You absolute bastard.” Zoro growls, vowing to break every bone in that man’s body should he ever get the opportunity.

He forces himself to take a calming breath and change the page, he should be thankful that Sanji hasn’t read this report. He hopes that Sanji is as nice as he seems to be, but he wouldn’t want the blonde getting any ideas about what’s best for him from that guy. 

He can’t help but smirk wryly to himself when he reaches the medical doctor’s certification that he is indeed a virgin still. Hah, hardly. Both he and Nami had snuck off of the institute’s grounds enough to ensure that neither of their first times would be with their new masters. Though due to the regular medical checks that they all had to go through Zoro had to be the party giving in his case instead of receiving. He much preferred that though to the painful sports injury that Nami had to fake to fool the doctors after her night with her first partner. He cringes just at the thought, both from the idea of Nami having sex with anyone and of what she had to do to herself to cover it up. 

His finger slides down to the final tab in the report, the psychology tab. He opens it to see Chopper’s distinctive neat handwriting, this section of the report was entirely written by him. The report is prefaced by warnings about him and potential triggers for bad behaviour. 

“Zoro is very physically strong, this combined with the fact that fear causes him to react with anger and violence leads me to strongly advise against physical confrontation of any kind. Zoro is strong with quick reflexes and any attempts to overpower him will either be fruitless or dangerous. In addition, due to his life before the institute Zoro is incredibly proficient with bladed weapons, particularly swords, and I advise keeping him out of kitchens and away from potential weapons. If this instruction is ignored what might be an unpleasant argument with Zoro could turn fatal.”

Chopper’s report then begins in full.

“Zoro is a kind, gentle man who has a strong sense of honour and integrity. If treated with kindness, humanity and love he will reward you with his warm personality and flawless loyalty. Any kind of physical, mental or sexual mistreatment however is almost certain to be remembered and held against the perpetrator for life. Zoro’s trust once broken may never be repaired. It is for this reason that I deem Zoro strongly unsuitable for anyone who is looking for anything other than a lifelong partner. Zoro needs someone who will challenge him intellectually and emotionally, his best relationships seem to rely on a certain amount of friction within a safe environment.”

Zoro pauses as his and Nami’s incessant bickering springs to mind. He bites his lip and continues reading.

“Zoro is slow to warm to people but well worth the wait. His new master would do well to give Zoro his own time to adjust to his new situation. Zoro requires someone who is gentle but will stand their ground as Zoro has no respect for those who let themselves be pushed around, a successful master should be smart but humble and unconcerned with fancy displays of wealth. Above all a successful match with Zoro will only come from one who can consider him an equal.”

Zoro feels his eyes brim with tears, obscuring his vision. This report was dated years ago, Chopper had written his report so that no person should have been able to sensibly meet the criteria. He’d called for a respectful but aggressive man, who was both intelligent and non-violent. No wonder he’d not been selected until now. 

Sanji’s nice guy act must have fooled the institute enough for them to get him off of their books, but Chopper wouldn’t have been fooled, the little doctor could see through any lie. But… was Sanji’s nice guy act really an act? The cook had seemed genuine tonight when he spoke of his past. He certainly wasn’t too showy with his wealth, he wore normal clothes most of the time even though he dressed smart, and in comparison to his father’s house Sanji’s was modest.

He remembers Sanji’s gentle touch on his back when he was hunched over the sink with a bleeding nose, without his wounded pride at being caught so embarrassingly in a fight he could see that Sanji had been trying to soothe him. At the same time Sanji had also fought for him, though he could have taken that guy on his own Sanji had his back. 

Sanji… Sanji did seem to be all that Chopper had recommended for him. His heart catches in his throat as he remembers his last words to Chopper, how he had told the little doctor that he hated him, that he’d betrayed his trust. But the furry doctor had done all that he could to keep Zoro safe and allowed him to be given to a man as close to his recommendations as sanely possible. It wasn’t Chopper’s fault that he had to be sold to someone, so the doctor had just tried to do the best that he could to keep him safe. Indeed, the rest of his report, barring his bastard of a behaviour teacher, all agreed with Chopper’s recommendations. 

He finds himself tempted to simply remove his behaviour teacher’s report and replace the rest of it back in Sanji’s office. But there was no way that he could do that without Sanji realising that someone had read it, and it would be obvious that a section was missing. No, he can’t do that. He hides the envelope in between his mattress and the bedframe. He’d just have to hope that Sanji assumed that Usopp or Franky had emptied his bin after he threw the report away and not realise that he had it. 

He switches off the lamp and curls back under the blankets and thinks about Sanji. He did seem to be all that Chopper’s report asked for, all except for Sanji being his one true love or some crap like that. He can’t help but wonder though what Sanji’s report says. Just as Chopper evaluated him years ago to produce that report, he knows that all masters are evaluated with Chopper and assessed. Each potential master has a report written about their mental and emotional needs which are then matched up with mates of compatible personality and orientation. What did Chopper think that Sanji needed? What did Sanji expect out of their tenuous relationship? Was it simply that he didn’t want anything from him at all and Chopper had paired him with a mate who wasn’t prepared to give anything at all, like him?

He could hardly imagine Sanji’s report reading “Rich pretty boy seeks rough, surly, loudmouthed idiot. Should be vaguely able to dance and string a sentence together. Ideal if he responds to any kindness with suspicion and/or violence. Ideal for generating long term sexual frustration.” Zoro snorts, yeah right. 

Still… he’d love to see that report.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey Zoro, wake up.” A voice says in his ear as a hand shakes his shoulder. Zoro comes to in a fuzzy kind of consciousness, he’d woken up several times in the night unable to sleep and unable to stop himself from repeatedly poring over the every detail in his report. He looks up at Usopp bleary eyed, blinking sleepily as he does so.

“Zoro, you’d better hurry, you’re going to miss breakfast. Sanji’s still down there, you’ve got time if you hurry.” Usopp urges him.

That startles Zoro into full wakefulness! Sanji had two rules and he’s about to break one of them already! He leaps out of bed and sprints into his wardrobe, he glances around at all of the clothes and in a panicky decision decides that he doesn’t have time to get dressed and sprints out again. He runs down the corridor and down the stairs, nearly running into Franky as he comes into the kitchen. Sanji doesn’t seem to notice him or his hasty entrance though, the cook is flipping through some official looking papers with his fork half forgotten en route to his mouth.

Franky chuckles at him and points one large finger towards a heavenly smelling selection of homemade pastries, bread and preserves. Zoro nods gratefully before helping himself and sliding innocently into the chair at Sanji’s side as if he’s been there ages. Sanji doesn’t react but instead scowls a little harder at his papers. Zoro cranes his neck curiously and looks at them, he spies the Royal Institute’s insignia on the top right away, it matches the wax seal that was on his report. 

“Oh, it’s my ownership papers.” He realises aloud, rousing Sanji from his absorption in them.

“Oh, yeah. I need to call them though, I think they’re made a mistake. Or perhaps they sent it to me in two parts and I threw the other part out when I threw your report away.” Sanji says biting into the watermelon on his fork with a frown. 

“I don’t think they’d send it in two parts. What’re you missing?” Zoro asks innocently, not mentioning that he damn well knows that there was no additional contract pages in with his report because he’s read the damn thing from cover to cover. 

“Well, loads of stuff, but maybe it’s in here and I just can’t read the legal mumbo jumbo.” Sanji sighs dropping the papers on the table defeated and slumping back in his chair unhappily.

“Let me see, I can usually read this stuff, a friend of mine taught me.” Zoro says, not mentioning that he got used to reading sneaky contracts of Nami’s. He wipes his hands free of pastry crumbs on his pyjama trousers and picks up the contract.

“Okay, this bit is all about me being ‘sold as seen’, so that refers to my report. But that’s pretty standard. This part is about your consumer rights and how long you have if you want to return me and the conditions for doing that for free or with a charge.” Zoro says pointing to the corresponding lines.

“There’s some stuff about what the institute will do for you if I escape, that you can either have me back with compensation or you can get a replacement for free. Then there are the usual clauses about the lifetime nature of the contract, then an explanation of terms that they use and… that’s more or less it.” Zoro finishes handing the documents back to Sanji and biting into some of the toast made from the home made bread. 

“But- but where’s the rest of it? There has to be more, there just has to be! Where are the parts about your welfare, what I have to provide for you? Where does it say what you can do if you don’t like me? Where does it day what we can do if someone says that I’m mistreating you? It’s all missing!” Sanji exclaims, flicking through the contract again, as if Zoro wouldn’t have noticed something like that.

“Are you drunk?” He asks, raising a sceptical eyebrow at the blonde.

“What?! No!” The cook splutters, clearly offended.

“Then what’s wrong with you? That stuff has never been in any contract ever. A company that includes return clauses like that isn’t going to care about my welfare Sanji.” Zoro says with a scowl at his breakfast. He suddenly doesn’t feel like eating anymore. 

“Wh… what clauses? What would I ever return you?” Sanji frowns, leaning over to read over Zoro’s shoulder. 

“Like I said, there are certain conditions that if they fit you can return me for free. If I… resist you, you can return me and get a replacement.” He mutters darkly.

“Resist me?” Sanji asks, clearly confused. Zoro sighs, Sanji doesn’t get it.

“If I deny you or fight back.” He clarifies unhappily. He knows all too well about this clause and why mates like him think it’s better not to resist, because they could be retuned – which is far worse.

“You mean sex?!” Sanji gasps in horror, Zoro nods silently.

“But… but if you can’t say no then how can anyone know if you really consent? That’d mean that anyone who has a mate could be a rapist!” Sanji balks shocked.

“Like they’re not already? Anyway, legally speaking it’s not; you’re the one who owns my body, not me. It’s not mine to decide what to do with it, it’s yours. You can’t steal what’s already legally yours.” Zoro explains grudgingly, he sincerely hopes that Sanji won’t take that as an invitation. 

“No, no, you must be wrong! You have to be wrong!” The cook insists almost childishly. 

Zoro sighs and picks up the contract, flicking to the appropriate page. He clears his throat and starts to read, if Sanji won’t believe him then maybe actually hearing it will convince him.

“If the consumer feels that his or her needs have not been met or that the provided mate is not fulfilling his or her obligated physical duties as per the terms of service then the client is entitled to bring their mate to an immediate mediation session. If a suitable outcome cannot then be reached the client is entitled to a full refund or exchange within ten days, provided on the basis of current Royal Institute stock.” He recites.

“Translation; if you try to screw me and I say no or resist they can haul me in and threaten me, if I still say no or resist you get either your money back or a brand new plaything.” He adds flicking the contract back down onto the table top angrily. 

“Ugh… I feel sick.” Sanji groans, looking away. Zoro shakes his head and looks back at the contract, he can’t feel sorry for Sanji at his horrifying realisation, that horrifying reality is his life.

Sanji looks up at him suddenly with piercingly blue eyes as if some big idea has just occurred to him. 

“Oh god, that’s why you’re so jumpy around me isn’t it? That’s why you’re so scared of me! You think I’m going to… to…” Sanji trails off in horror.

“I’m not scared of you.” He snaps, his pride speaking before his brain gets a word in.

“Yes you are.” Sanji asserts shakily. Zoro glares at him but his rationality reminds him that disagree with Sanji might provoke the blonde into trying to scare him to prove his point and Zoro doesn’t want that to happen. He scowls and turns his attention back to his half abandoned breakfast. 

“I didn’t know.” The blonde breathes, his breath coming quick and panicky.

“Didn’t you listen to your uncle? He had his mate ‘put down’! You could haul me up onto your precious kitchen top and cut my throat out with one of your fancy knives and no one would bat an eyelid!” He snaps angrily, his so mad that his fists are shaking.

His anger wilts though when he looks at Sanji who is staring at him wide eyed in genuine horror. He’s even gone a little paler than normal in his shock and is trembling slightly. Zoro sighs as his rage leaves him completely, leaving him instead just feeling hollow. His situation isn’t Sanji’s fault, not really. And getting angry at him for being a naïve idiot is hardly going to change things, it’s not as if Sanji made the rules after all, or that he’s been abusing Zoro either, he just somehow didn’t know.

“I thought that my uncle was just lying to upset me, they mock the fact that I care about people all the time. I thought that they were just… just… oh poor Rose!” Sanji wails. The blonde actually looks like he might throw up now as he pushes his chair away from the table and rests his head in his shaking hands.

“Oh god, my mother!” Sanji exclaims in horror, his eyes distant.

Zoro slides off of his chair and kneels at Sanji’s side, he rubs his hand between the man’s shoulder blade’s soothingly. At this rate Sanji is either going to faint or throw up and Zoro doesn’t want to be around for either. It’d be best if he kept the other man talking.

“Your mother was a mate like me?” Zoro asks, hoping to distract Sanji… and to find out a little more about the man’s past. Sanji nods his head, his body shaking ever so slightly under Zoro’s hand.

“I always thought that the reason she stayed with my father was because she didn’t want to leave me alone with him, or that she loved him deep down. I didn’t know that she couldn’t leave.” Sanji says in a haunted tone. 

Zoro stays silent at that. He doesn’t know what the relationship between Sanji’s parents was like, though from his brief meeting with Sanji’s father he can guess. But more importantly he doesn’t know how bad Sanji thinks that it was. Sanji was only young when he and his father were separated and his mother died, he doubtlessly didn’t see things the way that Zoro sees them now. If his mother was a quiet woman Sanji might have just thought that was her way, whereas Zoro knows enough to think that she would have been too terrified to speak. He wonders what she was really like. 

“I’m sorry.” He offers Sanji. What else can he say? The man has just had his idea of his parents relationship shattered, discovered that his uncle is a murderer and found out that the institute really are evil and really do threaten people like Zoro; and the blonde’s not even finished breakfast yet!

“You must think that I’m a monster.” Sanji says quietly, looking up at Zoro through his hair. He’s so close Zoro would only have to lean forward ever so slightly to touch the man’s forehead with his own.

“I don’t think you’re a monster, I think you’re an idiot.” He smirks and closes the gap to Sanji with his hand and flicks the guy in the forehead.

“Gee, thanks!” Sanji squawks offended. Zoro grins up at him, Sanji’s offence has returned some colour to his face and he no longer looks in danger of fainting like some delicate lady.

“You’re the moron who signed something without reading it, despite being big enough and ugly enough to know better!” Zoro retorts and stands up.

“Now I’m ugly too? Thanks!” The blonde huffs and kicks him in the shin lightly with his bare foot. 

“Seriously though, how did you even get through the process of getting me without anyone explaining to you what I was or how this thing between us works?” he asks with a puzzled frown.

“I told you, I didn’t have much to do with it.” Sanji mutters, looking away.

“Yeah but even so-” Zoro protests.

“It doesn’t matter!” Sanji shouts suddenly. He reaches over and grabs Zoro’s shirt and pulls him close.

“Listen to me, you and I, we’re not like that. I don’t care what that contract says, if you’re not happy then tell me, if you hate me then let me know, if you want something or you don’t want something you damn well make me aware! I won’t return you, I won’t hurt you and I sure as hell am not going to force you into anything, regardless of what that contract says!” Sanji snaps. As proof he snags the contract off of the table and hurls it across the room into a wall.

“Swear that you’re safe here, okay? So tell me, what do you really think of me?” Sanji asks, looking back at him with wide earnest blue eyes and Zoro can’t help but stare. 

“Well, like I said, you’re an idiot. I suppose you’re alright though.” He laughs.

“Well, thanks, I guess.” Sanji grouses letting him go and sulkily looking at his breakfast.

“Hey, no problem. Any time you need someone to tell you that you’re an idiot, any time of day or night, I’m your man.” He chuckles.

“Now you’re just mocking me grass-head” Sanji accuses in an affronted voice, but Zoro can see the smile quirking his lips up. 

“You noticed, well done!” Zoro teases, earning him an elbow in the side.

“Eat your breakfast moron.” The blonde huffs.

“Whatever you say, idiot-cook.” Zoro retorts.

They eat breakfast in relative quiet after that, it’s fantastic of course, but Zoro is starting to get used to Sanji’s cooking being unfathomably great. Even dinner last night that he’d eaten in stony silence with Sanji tasted fantastic. 

Sanji doesn’t seem to notice the brilliance of his own cooking though as he absently eats his food, as he stares somewhat glumly into the distance. Zoro notices that his eyes keep landing on the crumpled contract on the floor by the wall where he’d thrown it. 

“There’s nothing that you can do about it.” Zoro sighs, Sanji must be feeling guilty about the whole thing.

“I’m responsible, there must be something that I can do to change this.” The other man frowns, picking the crusts off of his bread and eating them. 

“Unless you own the institute and everyone on the board that rules it then no, you can’t. And since you don’t…” Zoro shrugs picking up his plate and Sanji’s as he walks to the sink. He dumps them in and turns the tap on.

“If that’s what I have to do then I will.” Sanji asserts after a while, joining Zoro at the sink and shouldering him out of the way so that he can wash up. 

“Seriously?” Zoro laughs, picking up a dishtowel and drying. Sanji squints at him searchingly as if he’s just said something particularly oblivious. 

“Hey, I’m not saying don’t try, but just being rich doesn’t mean that you can buy anything that you want. Even my freedom.” He says trying to reason with the other man, he really needs to see that it’s hopeless, it’s something that Zoro accepted a long time ago and Sanji should too, he’ll only get hurt if he doesn’t.

“I’ll do it.” Sanji asserts anyway.

Zoro smiles quickly to himself, Sanji’s definitely not a monster, but he’s absolutely an idiot.

 

Zoro had planned to spend today exploring the house properly, something that he’d not had much chance to do so far, but when Sanji comes and finds him he suspects that his plan might change. 

“I’m going to go and visit Robin, she has a huge library with all sorts of books. And I’m going to need some law books if I’m going to change things and fix that contract of yours. So, do you want to come with me?” the blonde asks proving him right about his plans.

“Sure.” Zoro shrugs. He’d quite liked Robin, at the very least she was interesting and sneaky.

“Great!” Sanji beams at him.

Franky’s flight there takes hardly any time, Lady Robin must live quite close by. Her home is bigger than Sanji’s and as they arrive at the door Zoro can’t help but admire the detail on everything. The door is carved in intricate leaf designs and the stone pillars on either side of it look like tree trunks. 

The spectacled guy who opens the door has an exceedingly weird hairstyle knotted to look like a number three. Or at least Zoro thinks that’s what it’s been made to look like, he doubts that this guy did it accidentally, although why he’d do it deliberately is just as much of a mystery. 

“Ah, Sir Prince. So nice to see you for such a surprising and unannounced visit.” The guy says in a voice that’s as annoying as his hair is weird. 

“Is Robin here Mr. 3?” Sanji asks in an exasperated voice.

“I shall ask the Lady if she is here.” Mr. 3 says turning to go back inside.

“You two should wait here, don’t move.” Mr 3 adds, beckoning them into the lobby and leaving them with a look that Zoro wouldn’t even give to something he found on his boot. 

“He’ll go and ask her if she’s here?” Zoro whispers to Sanji with a puzzled frown. Surely Robin is in if Mr 3 can go and ask her?

“Don’t even ask, that guy pisses me off so much.” Sanji mutters back. 

They wait for a few minutes in the grand lobby without the weird man returning before Sanji curses under his breath and strides off down the hallway that the servant left down. The corridor is long and doesn’t seem to have any doors on its right, although there are numerous doors on the left that Sanji ignores as he strides quickly down the corridor with his smart black shoes clicking on the polished green marble floor. 

Along the right hand wall there are paintings instead of doors. They’re all forest scenes, all of which have a disproportionately large tree in them somewhere. The slightly mystical quality of the paintings is familiar somehow, ha pauses and looks at the signatures in the corner, he can’t make out what it says but it’s the same one as in the paintings in Sanji’s home.

“What’s up?” Sanji asks him from down the hallway, clearly only just having noticed that he’d stopped walking behind him.

“You’re both fans of the same artist.” Zoro responds, pointing at the signature on the painting.

“The greatest artist in the world if you listen to what he says.” Sanji grins, sauntering back over to him with his slender hipped shimmy of a walk.

“It’s Usopp’s work.” The blonde adds, with a genuine smile sliding onto his face as he looks up at the painting.

“Usopp? Your Usopp?” Zoro gasps, surprised at the kid’s talent.

“Yep. Come on it’s not far.” Sanji says, catching him by the elbow and tugging him down the hallway. Zoro follows and as they round the corner they reach a large set of double doors in the right hand wall, the first that they’ve come across, the doors are ajar. They can hear voices through the door, Mr 3’s voice and Robin’s voice.

“You’re sure that you don’t want any more coffee Lady Robin?” Mr 3 asks in his simpering tone.

“No, I’m quite alright Mr 3. I’m sure that I heard someone at the front door though.” Lady Robin says in reply. Zoro resists snorting with derision, with Robin’s powers she probably damn well saw them walk up to the door with her mysterious hands and eyes.

“Oh, no, no. It was no one really, common riff-raff selling something.” Mr 3 laughs haughtily. 

“Were we now? Were you trying to sell anything to the man Zoro?” Sanji says loudly and innocently as he glances through the curtain of his flaxen hair at Zoro.

“Not me.” Zoro grins at the incredibly uncomfortable looking Mr 3. 

“I’ll just… go.” Mr 3 mutters slipping out of the room red faced.

“Sanji!” Robin exclaims joyously, walking quickly over to the blonde and pulling him into a tight hug. A few hearts flutter around the blonde making Zoro raise his eyebrow. Was Sanji attracted to women? Of course the only thing that Zoro knew about Sanji’s sexuality was that he was attracted to men, if he wasn’t Zoro wouldn’t even be here. But… that didn’t mean that his interests swung exclusively that way as Zoro’s did. 

“My beautiful flower! You look more radiant every time that I’m fortunate enough to lay eyes on your heavenly voluptuous form!” Sanji declares with a swoon making Robin laugh.

Zoro rolls his eyes, that answers his question then. 

“You’re so sweet Sanji. Oh Zoro, you look much more relaxed than last time I saw you.” Robin says delicately extricating herself from Sanji’s swooning embrace and smiling at him.

“That’s not saying much.” Zoro points out with a wry smile.

“True, but still. How have you boys been getting on with each other?” She asks looking at them interestedly. As one Zoro and Sanji look at each other wordlessly. He sees doubt in Sanji’s eyes but they both still turn back to Robin, smile, and say that they’re fine. Robin doesn’t look entirely convinced but doesn’t press them on it either.

Zoro looks around the library that they’re in. It’s absolutely massive which must be why it took them so long to get around to a door. The shelves and shelves of books that spread throughout the room are massive, easily over three times Zoro’s height. They cover every wall and rows throughout the room, there’s even a second floor and higher half levels on that! He has no idea how many books are in here but it would take even a dedicated reader a lifetime to read them all cover to over. It’s impressive to say the least.

“What can I do for you Sanji?” Robin asks pleasantly. Sanji’s face flicks back to serious then, the hearts disappearing from his eyes. 

“I wanted to look at your law books Robin, I read Zoro’s contract this morning and I’m convinced that it can’t be legal.” Sanji says seriously.

“You mean you didn’t read it before now?” Robin asks him with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I thought I knew what it said.” Sanji mumbles looking at his feet in embarrassment, the tips of his ears are even turning pink. Zoro grins smugly at Sanji and gets an evil look through Sanji’s hair for his trouble, it just makes him grin wider.

“Silly boy, never sign anything without reading it first Sanji, especially when you think you know what it says.” Robin chides him.

“That said, I’ve devoted many hours myself to this matter in the past with no success. But, as always, you are always welcome to use my library, I’ll show you my work.” Robin sighs gesturing to one end of the library.

“This probably won’t interest you much Zoro, and I’m sad to tell you that I don’t have much fiction in here. I do have a little over there under that light there, perhaps it might be of some interest to you?” Robin suggests.

He takes the hint, thanks her and heads of calmly in the direction that Robin indicated. It turns out that what Robin thinks of as ‘not much’ is at least a thousand books of poetry and fiction. Zoro grins maniacally and hopes that Sanji takes his sweet time with his fruitless research.

Robin has all of his favourites and more he notes as he lovingly runs his fingers down the spines of the books. Before he came to the institute he didn’t care about reading at all, and if he’d managed to avoid his fate he probably still wouldn’t, but something about living in slavery gives escape to fictional worlds a huge appeal. 

He touches his childhood favourites, Treasure Island, Peter Pan, the collected works of Roald Dahl. His fingers linger on the Princess Bride, he’d been able to get a whole load of kids in the institute to read it with him after dark with stolen flashlights under the cover of blankets. It always got too loud though, with other kids pitching in to do the silly voices and Zoro himself could never resist leaping up and enacting the swordfights, they’d always been his favourite bits. He was sad when the institute caught them one too many times and confiscated the books. He could remember enough of it by memory to keep it on, although sometimes he preferred Nami’s alterations. He closes his eyes, he can just picture Nami perched on the foot of her bed adlibbing Princess Buttercup’s lines and altering the story.

“And then Buttercup grabbed Vizzini and threw him to the shrieking eels, because she knew about them, having lived near there her entire life! And she escaped and became the Dread Pirate Roberts herself!” Nami had declared.

He smiles wistfully and pulls the book loose from its shelf. He slides it under his arm and pulls out a few more that he’d always wanted to read. He settles onto the floor and starts to read. He struggles to stay on one book though and like a kid in a candy store he pulls more from the shelves, leafing through their pages and diving in and out of their stories. 

He’s partway through Treasure Island, an old favourite, already so immersed that he can practically feel the sun on the back of his neck and hear the waves lapping against the hull of the Hispaniola when a hand on his shoulder startles him half to death.

“Gah!” Sanji yelps, falling back away from where he’d crouched on the floor beside Zoro. Zoro comes back to the library and lowers the book in his hand, the way he’d been holding it threatened to brain Sanji with it. 

“You startled me.” He mutters in embarrassment. 

“Well I called your name!” Sanji snaps indignantly from his inelegant sprawl on the ground.

“He was worlds away Sanji, lost in a book.” Robin smiles, crouching down at his side. She lifts the edge of his book with a long elegant finger enough to see the cover.

“Treasure Island, one of my favourites as a child. I always found pirates fascinating, didn’t you?” She smiles at him. Zoro reddens and realises that he’s almost made a nest for himself out of books in his enthusiasm. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Zoro stumbles as he picks the books hurriedly off of the floor to replace them in the bookshelf. 

“You can borrow some if you like.” Robin smiles at him picking a book off of the floor and plucking the Princess Bride from his grasp, he’d not been able to put it away. 

“Really?” He asks hopefully as he looks up at the dark haired woman.

“Of course, I’ll lend you three at the time, then you can to come and see me again and tell me what you thought when you change them for new ones. I’m always happy to help out a fellow bibliophile.” Robin smiles at him, pulling another book from the shelf and adding it to the pile of three in her hand.

“A what?” Sanji frowns at them.

“A book lover, Sanji. Don’t let all those things that they say about blondes be true now.” She chuckles, ruffling Sanji’s golden locks as she passes him.

“Hey!” Sanji protests offended. The laugh, free and easy, bubbles up out of Zoro’s chest momentarily filling him with a glow inside that he’d previously only associated with Luffy, Nami and Ace. 

“Don’t you start too!” Sanji huffs and shoves at him with his shoe but Sanji’s small smile speaks of him being secretly pleased.

Zoro grins and stands up as he puts the last book from the floor back in the bookcase, he takes the three that Robin offers him from her hand and holds them close to his chest. 

“Hey, can you help me carry the law books that Robin is lending me?” Sanji asks as he leads the way back to the centre of the library.

“You won’t find anything in them.” Zoro points out. He knows that if he answer was that simple he wouldn’t even be here now, the institute would have gone out of business generations ago. As it was the Royal Institute was one of the top ten most profitable companies in the whole world, making the family that owned it ludicrously wealthy, certainly more than Sanji appeared to be. The dumb blonde just didn’t understand the might of the company that he was trying to tangle with.

“I’m no quitter Zoro. I won’t rest until you stay with me because you want to and not because you have to.” Sanji says spinning on his heel at the bottom of the staircase and smiling up at Zoro charmingly, freezing him on the staircase where he stands.

“Pft. Good luck with that.” Zoro snorts dismissively as he regains his composure and breezes by Sanji. 

“You’re blushing.” The blonde smirks at him.

“Only because your idiocy makes me angry!” Zoro snaps defensively, certain that he’s not blushing, the other man must just be making it up to fluster him.

“I’m not an idiot! At least I’m not a defeatist like you!” Sanji retorts, scooping up a large stack of legal books from the table before them with an offended flourish.

“Big words for someone who can’t even read a contract!” Zoro snipes back, dropping his loaned books on top of Sanji’s remaining ones and picking them up with ease. 

Sanji manages to get a few words into a doubtlessly weak insult in reply before Robin’s giggle behind them reminds them of her presence. 

“Oh no, don’t mind me boys. I’m just surprised that you two developed such friction so quickly!” She laughs daintily behind her hand as they both look at her. 

“I’m sorry to behave so poorly in front of you my sweet lady!” Sanji apologises profusely in his overly flowery way. He tries to boy in apology but the book sin his arms get in his way and he ends up in an awkward flailing curtsy instead. 

Zoro would usually find this ineptness funny but he can’t help but look at Robin suspiciously as his mind traces around the edge of that word, friction. Was it sheer coincidence? It wasn’t exactly a common turn of phrase was it? But he’d been up so long last night reading over his own report that the phrase was stuck in his head and he’d spot it anywhere. 

“His best relationships seem to rely on a certain amount of friction within a safe environment.”

But the report’s seal had been intact and the envelope it came in had been completely unopened, even at the bottom where most people wouldn’t have thought to check. He’d been so thorough to be sure that Sanji hadn’t really read his report and wasn’t just pretending not to have done so. He was grateful for this thoroughness now. Surely then Robin couldn’t have read the report could she?

Although… she had been the one to deliver it to Sanji in the first place, and he’d already witnessed her sneakiness first hand. She’d both tampered with his outfit at the ceremony and with him being selected for Sanji in the first place. No, this was a woman used to subterfuge. And really, how hard would it be to fake the seal? All you’d need was a replica stamp and some similar looking wax. 

No, he was convinced now that Robin had read his report and possibly that she wanted him to know that. Sneaky woman. What was her angle though? Why did she want him to know?

Instead of speaking he pretends as if he hasn’t just worked this all out and instead smirks at Sanji. Never one to miss out on an opportunity to aggravate the blonde now that it was apparent that he wouldn’t be punished for it he bows at Robin smoothly, unhindered by the books in his arms. The institute had drilled signs of respect into them, regardless of what you happened to be doing or holding at the time, he was well practiced.

“Show off, let’s go.” Sanji mutters snagging Zoro by the elbow and tugging him out of the room.

“Oh, Sanji! You’ve not forgotten about Lady Hina’s party tonight have you?” Robin calls after them. Zoro watches Sanji tense up with interest.

“I’ll see you there my Lady.” Sanji says over his shoulder instead and leads the way out of Robin’s large home. 

 

“Not looking forward to it?” Zoro asks raising an eyebrow at Sanji as they slide into the back of Sanji’s car, both ignoring Sanji’s enthusiastic “super” greeting. 

“I don’t like many of these parties, they’re unnecessarily lavish and the food is always below what I could make myself.” Sanji sighs.

“Well, I’m sure you run into that problem everywhere, so that’s not much of an objection.” Zoro points out, looking out of the window as they take off. He realizes that Sanji has paused and he turns to look back at the blonde and spots a small surprised smile on his face.

“You like my cooking?” Sanji asks hopefully. 

“I- yeah. Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t say it to stroke your stupid ego.” Zoro mutters, but instead of looking offended Sanji’s smile only widens.

“You were saying?” He prompts, feeling uncomfortable with that kind of smile from the other man.

“Yes, I hate these things. Too much being forced to be nice to people that you hate.” Sanji sighs resting his head back on the top of the black leather seat, making the golden strands splay out strikingly. 

“Haven’t you known these people for years though? Surely there must be some of them that you like?” Zoro frowns.

“A few, Robin, Brook, Kaya. There are people that aren’t bad, like the Lady Hina who’s hosting tonight, but everyone is so busy wearing masks of who they’re supposed to be that you never get to see who they actually are.” Sanji remarks quietly. 

Zoro contemplates that for a moment, he’s not an especially social person, but that’s by choice. But it sounds like even he has more friends than Sanji.

“Sounds lonely.” He says carefully.

“Yeah, it is.” Sanji agrees quietly and looks out of the window silently, the conversation over.

Zoro for a moment has a vision of a younger Sanji, sixteen years old and forced into his father’s big empty house – he probably didn’t have the one that he has now when he was that age. He imagines a Sanji who had spent the last six years of his life in the noisy bustling kitchen of the Baratie only to be wrenched into this isolated world. He has Franky and Usopp who are friends to him as well as servants, but they are still Sanji’s servants as well. Then there is Robin who seems to be nice but even he can see that Robin has her eyes on some other prize as well as being Sanji’s friend. He has yet to meet Kaya but so far everyone regards Sanji as something else as well as just a friend. 

The cook was indeed living a lonely life. For the first time in Zoro’s entire life he could almost see the appeal of a mate. A ready made friend, confidant and lover. He’d seen all the adverts for mates which promised all that and more, a perfect match, someone who’d love you and obey you, someone who understood you. It doesn’t mean that it’s right or any less morally terrible but… well, loneliness could drive people to do terrible things. 

The rest of the drive back to Sanji’s home is done in silence and when they arrive Sanji asks Franky to help him with the books. Zoro trails uselessly behind them. Once the books are safely inside Sanji’s study the cook politely but firmly shuts the door to keep them out.

“Wow, I haven’t seen him this focused since he tried to get his father arrested.” Franky says letting out a low whistle.

“He what?” Zoro blinks in surprise. Franky looks uncomfortable but leads Zoro through his own room and out onto the garden chairs where the blue haired man can keep an eye on the corridor and presumably see if Sanji is coming out to overhear them. 

“When I was younger my name was Cutty Flam, my adopted father was a fishman and a shipwright. He built a ship for one of the greatest pirates of all time, Gol D. Roger.” Franky says in a low voice. Zoro’s jaw drops at this, it’s almost unbelievable!

“Sanji’s father Spandam is a bastard, a real slimebag. He had my father killed, I tried to rescue him but got hit by a train for my trouble.” Franky says darkly. 

“How are you not dead?!” Zoro asks with wide eyes. 

“Lucky I guess, and I’m a damn good engineer myself.” Franky smiles secretly, tapping the side of his metal nose. 

“So why are you working here? Surely you hate Sanji and his father?” Zoro questions, feeling puzzled. 

“That was eight years ago, you two were just eleven then, just pups, it wasn’t Sanji’s fault and he was missing then anyway. When Sanji returned however I planned on kidnapping him, to destroy Spandam by taking someone that he loved from him in revenge. You can see how that wasn’t going to work, Spandam needs Sanji but he doesn’t love him. When I grabbed Sanji and told him my plan in an attempt to gloat Sanji offered to help!” Franky laughs. Zoro considers that, it’s not surprising when you consider what Spandam has done to Sanji.

“Sanji got me to build this house for him, his father didn’t recognise me with a different name and a different face so Sanji was able to hire me as his servant and chauffer when really we were working on a plan to put Spandam away for good. I’d have my revenge and Sanji would have his freedom back.” The older man smiles fondly. 

“I guess it didn’t work.” Zoro says sourly, he wishes that it had.

“No, it didn’t work. Sanji worked tirelessly for a year but as long as Spandam has more money than God and the influence that goes with it he can’t be stopped, no matter how illegal or immoral he is. Sanji came to me and apologised when he realises this, he terminated my contract saying that he’d failed me and himself and that I didn’t have to stay anymore. But I refuse to leave, Sanji is a good kid and he needs people looking out for him.” The cyborg smiles. 

“I’ve not seen him throw himself into something like this since then, if there’s a way to make you free then Sanji will find it.” Franky assures him with a serious look. 

“There isn’t though, not without dismantling the Institute and bankrupting the bastards that run it. “ Zoro says shaking his head. Sanji’s goal is admirable but ultimately impossible. 

“It’s almost a beautifully simple problem, stop the rich bastards being so rich.” Franky smiles cunningly. 

“I’m all for that.” Zoro agrees.

“Good to hear it little bro, welcome to the team.” Franky laughs and ruffles his hair as he leaves Zoro’s room.

Team? Zoro wonders. He shrugs and grabs one of the borrowed books from his bed. At least he can read for a while before he and Sanji have to go to a party that neither of them wants to go to. As he leans back in his chair he can just see the edge of Sanji’s office door. He frowns and slides down in his chair. Are Sanji’s efforts really pointless or had he just internalised the institute’s message that they are all powerful and that resistance was useless? Zoro wasn’t sure that he liked either option.


	6. Chapter 6

Sanji looks like a petulant teenager in Franky’s car with his arms crossed huffily and his feet up on the back of the seats, Zoro supposes that he is. Lord, the man is even pouting. He’d grudgingly left his study and got dressed into a fancy suit for the evening, but he didn’t look pleased about it. Zoro wasn’t pleased about it either but he knew full well that sulking like a five year old wouldn’t get him out of it. 

“So… your second condition, about behaving as expected in front of an audience…?” Zoro trails off feeling nervous.

Sanji is probably going to expect him to fulfil his part of their agreement, so far Sanji has held up to his, he’s been perfectly fine to Zoro. He’s remained in Sanji’s company unhurt, unmolested and entirely unharmed by Sanji. For his part he’s shown up for every meal, something that’s hardly a chore with Sanji’s food being as good as it is, but this part Zoro dreads. Sanji will probably touch him tonight and kiss him, although the man vowed that he’d do no more than that in public Zoro feels… uneasy at the prospect. Sanji is correct, he needs to give the impression that Zoro is doing his job, if his father is as much of a bastard as Sanji says and as he’s experienced then the older man may well try and get Zoro returned regardless of what Sanji says about the damn contract. 

With no offence meant to the blonde, Zoro figures that with Sanji looking the way that he does he’s probably had plenty of practice, but he can hardly say that he is eager. In fact he is downright worried about it. Nami had always criticised him for listening so much to his pride and to his emotions, he worries that Sanji will kiss him and he’ll react badly as a knee-jerk reaction. He worries that he’ll ruin everything and slip from the tenuous knife edge that he’s balancing on.

“Yes, I’m afraid. We’ve both got to put on an act tonight, you get to pretend that you’re being exploited and I get to pretend to be some bastard that likes exploiting people.” Sanji grumbles, clearly less happy about their situation now that he knows more than he did on their first day together. Zoro keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t point out that he’s hardly pretending to be exploited, it’s not Sanji’s fault and saying so would only make the man feel worse.

The house that they pull up to is big and lavish of course, with smartly dressed servants greeting people and ushering them in. Sanji’s hand finds the small of Zoro’s back and ushers him inside. He doesn’t mind, the cook’s touch is hardly lecherous but if it does something to make them look more convincingly intimate then great. Zoro reminds himself to stick close to Sanji’s side, he had to think obedient and adoring. 

They slide through the crowd together until Sanji seems to brighten and pulls him over to a tall man. The cook’s entire being is instantly happier, he’s smiling and there’s even a slight spring in his step. Zoro immediately recognises the man, by height first and then the overly large afro second, it’s the skeleton man that was at Sanji’s ceremony – one of the very few that Sanji had pictures with where he looked happy.

“Ah, Sanji, so good to see you!” The skeleton exclaims, waving at them as they approach. 

“Brook!” Sanji smiles up at the taller dead man.

“Ah, Zoro. You’ve already sort of met Brook.” Sanji says turning to him. 

“I certainly recognise you.” Zoro concedes though he would have to be blind to miss a living skeleton walking around.

“Brook is a musician, a very good one at that. He plays violin, piano, guitar, you name it!” Sanji beams, clearly proud of his friend. 

“Ah! You flatter me Sanji! It warms my heart- although I don’t have a heart because I’m just bones! Yohohohoho!” Brook laughs loudly, his ribs shaking in mirth. Morbidly Zoro wonders how he talks with no lungs, or laughs for that matter.

“Yeah… don’t worry about not laughing at that joke Zoro, it hasn’t ever been and never will be funny.” Sanji groans, rolling his eyes at the skeleton. Zoro gets the impression that this happens a lot. 

“Sanji, your words cut deep into my heart! Except I don’t have a heart because-” Brook exclaims.

“You’re just bones, we know!” Sanji interrupts Brook. The cook’s exasperation makes Zoro laugh.

“So Zoro, tell me about yourself!” the skeleton says looking at him and clapping his bony fingers together eagerly as he leads the three of them to a seating area.

“Nothing much to tell.” Zoro shrugs noncommittally and sits down next to Sanji in the corner of a chaise-lounge. 

“Do you like music?” Brook prompts curiously.

“I enjoy it I guess, I can’t really play anything though. They tried to teach me but I’ve no talent for it, I could hit piano keys and produce the right notes but it wasn’t music.” He answers simply.

“Ah, then you and Sanji have something in common. His mother was a wonderful piano player, I’ve heard her music, but Sanji like you seems to lack the aptitude – although his appreciation is there.” Brook smiles at them.

“I know enough about music to know that I’m no good.” Sanji says in a wry voice. 

Just then a large man bumps by Brook, startling him slightly. The skeleton seems to scowl a little at the man, clearly more from personal dislike than irritation at being bumped.

“You will have to come by my home some time and we can get to know one another when we are in… safer company.” The skeleton says lowly. 

At that they move onto safer topics of conversation. Zoro learns that Hina despite being an heiress and fabulously wealthy is also the head of the city’s police, she doesn’t have a mate and Brook and Sanji both confirm that the woman is too married to the job to even think of it. The woman apparently is passionate about justice, a claim that Zoro finds hard to believe when her friends are wandering around with slaves. 

As he looks around the room he sees that most people of age seem to have mates. Zoro scans the collared members of the crowd and sees several familiar faces, men and women that were older than him at the institute and were bought long before him. A few of them look happy, whether they are or whether they are just very good at pretending now Zoro doesn’t know, most simply look meek. 

The ballroom is lavish and decorated all over with candles in the walls, the guests are equally lavish with men in full finery and women in fantastic almost structurally dangerous dresses, there are a few that Zoro can’t figure out how they are possibly staying on. Everyone looks elegant though. Zoro supposes that in his newly arrived bespoke suit he looks like one of them too, he wonders what Luffy and Ace would say if they could see him now. 

From their conversation with Brook Zoro works out that Sanji and Brook are old friends, indeed Brook seems to have known Sanji his entire life and it turns out that the skeleton is well over fifty years old. He seems genuinely friendly though and is easy enough to get along with. The man is happy and jovial but somehow almost too bright, his smile too fragile. Zoro doesn’t think that the skeleton is being dishonest or duplicitous with Sanji, he’s probably just covering up some inner pain. He supposes that one doesn’t get to be as old as Brook is without some trauma, and if anyone is allowed to have a few skeletons in their closet then a dead man is. 

A pretty woman enters the room in a pink dress, instantly a lot of attention focuses on her and several people flock to her side eager to talk to her. Zoro doesn’t have to be a brain surgeon to work out that she’s the host. Her hair is pink as well and Zoro vaguely wonders if she’s a relative of Sanji’s, a cousin perhaps, both his father and uncle have pink hair. 

“Oh my, there is Lady Hina. I shall go ask her if she would mind showing me her panties.” Brook announces merrily as he gets up.

“You what?!” Zoro splutters looking up at the skeleton in shock.

“Didn’t Hina threaten to mount your skull on a pike outside police headquarters if you asked her that again?” Sanji asks raising a curly eyebrow at the dead man, his appearance otherwise seeming bored as if this is as routine as the skeleton’s bad puns.

“It’d be worth it if she showed me!” Brook laughs in his strange yohoho way and walks off. 

“He’s weird.” Zoro murmurs as he leans back, his shoulder brushing Sanji’s.

“Yep, that’s why I like him though.” Sanji laughs. 

“Yeah, he seems okay.” Zoro agrees. 

“Well I’m so glad that you-” Sanji’s halts mid sentence, the smile falling from his face and his eyes sharpen on a point in the distance. With a frown Zoro looks up suspiciously in the same direction and sees Sanji’s father Spandam walking towards them slowly, he is distracted in conversation with another man.

Sanji quickly kneels up on the chaise-lounge and leans over Zoro, caging him into the corner of the sofa with his arms, Zoro tries to pull back but he’s nowhere else to go.

“I’m sorry- can I?” Sanji begs, his eyes wide with concern.

Zoro glances over, Sanji’s father has noticed them and it watching them carefully. Zoro represses a wave of hatred for the man and looks up at Sanji, the blonde is so close now. 

“Please?” Sanji asks, so close that his lips just brush Zoro’s when he asks. He realises that Sanji really won’t kiss him until he consents. He really does have a choice here.

Steeling himself Zoro closes the gap between them suddenly and the quiet ‘oh’ that Sanji gasps against his mouth makes him shiver slightly. He lets Sanji lean him farther back against the chaise-lounge as his hand slides up Zoro’s side. He’s aware that Spandam is watching them and Sanji has to be seen as the one in control here, it’s expected after all. 

He doesn’t know what he’d expected to feel when Sanji kissed him, or rather when he kissed Sanji as he’s the one who closed the gap, but… he hadn’t expected to be so okay with it. He’s been dreading this moment but Sanji’s soft lips and clever hands make him wonder just what he’d been so concerned about. Sanji’s mouth is talented, as Zoro had expected, and despite himself the blonde is coaxing a reaction from him. He can feel his heart rate pick up as Sanji’s hand trails up his ribs to rest on his chest, he can feel his cheeks start to turn pink as Sanji’s blonde fringe slides over his skin. 

Sanji’s tongue slides over Zoro’s bottom lip in a way that promises pleasant things to Zoro’s sex drive, his body jerks at that and his mouth seems to happily open to Sanji. Zoro’s toes curl inside his fancy shoes as Sanji’s other hand slides along his jaw. 

After a while, and Zoro isn’t sure how long –whether it was too long or not long enough, Sanji pulls back a bit ending the kiss. They’re still practically nose to nose and Zoro is surprised that he has to force down the urge to close the gap again himself and kiss Sanji once more. 

Sanji’s captivating blue eyes slide to the side as he inspects the room through his hair. It’s not real Zoro reminds himself as he shamefully tries to reel his body back into his control. His dazed mind though notes that the cook’s eyes aren’t the clear blue that he’s thought that they were, they have flecks of green and grey in them – almost like the sea. Zoro thinks that he likes that a little, it seems fitting. 

Sanji shifts so that his knee is provocatively between Zoro’s thighs as he leans in close again, his lips just by Zoro’s ear. The blonde is in actual fact barely touching him but they look as provocative and intimate as hell, Sanji is clever about appearances.

“He’s stopped looking now, are you okay? I’m so sorry about that.” Sanji murmurs into Zoro’s ear, sounding guilty.

“I’m fine, it’s fine.” Zoro answers the cook. He feels the gust of a relieved sigh go past his ear. 

“You know, you kiss like you argue.” Zoro comments quietly into Sanji’s own ear. And he does, there’s the right amount of give and take and somehow it’s utterly Sanji. The other man pulls back and looks at him in surprise.

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.” Sanji remarks uncertainly. 

“I’m not sure that I want to tell you.” Zoro grins back knowing full well that not knowing what he means is likely to drive Sanji nuts. 

“Asshole.” Sanji mutters, deliberately kneeing Zoro in the leg as he sits back down. His pouting makes Zoro laugh and Sanji sulk further. 

“Hey, there’s a bar over there, do you want a drink?” Zoro offers, pointing to the bar across the room.

“Sure, it’s an open bar so don’t worry about money. White wine would be good, I know that Hina has excellent taste.” Sanji replies looking up at him. 

“Open bar huh? My two favourite words. Be right back.” He grins, getting to his feet and heading to the bar.

He had planned just to order hard liquor for himself and wine for Sanji but he spies some particularly nice beer on the shelves behind the barman and on impulse orders that instead. When he turns back around he sees Sanji with his uncle Fullbody talking to him. Sanji’s expression is tight and angry, which is unsurprising considering what Sanji found out this morning. Zoro hesitates at the bar as the barman serves his drinks to him, that’s hardly a conversation that he wants to just blunder right into. Perhaps he should just… stay where he is for the meantime. He turns back and leans on the bar, hoping to appear busy.

“Zoro?” a voice asks by his side. A female voice in fact, a voice that he knows well. He looks over in shock and sees Vivi at his side. 

“Vivi… VIVI!” Zoro exclaims and pulls her into an excited hug. 

“It is you Zoro!” Vivi squeals in delight in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and embracing him. Their collars clank together with the closeness. 

Zoro puts Vivi down and gives her an assessing look. She looks just fine, happy and healthy in fact. There’s no marks on her pale skin to indicate that any harm has come to her at all since the last time that he saw her. On the contrary she seems to have grown more beautiful, Zoro isn’t into women but even he can appreciate Vivi’s good looks. She is elegant and refined, graceful and sweet, she’s always given off an air of glamour that she seems to have been born with and despite all of Nami’s practicing she could never copy her friend. Indeed, only the heavy collar around her delicate neck could convince you that this beautiful creature wasn’t a rich guest to this party but instead the property of one.

Vivi was a very strange case, most people at the institute were bought young like Zoro had been, but Vivi had signed up at fourteen, usually an age that potential mates were deemed too old to train. However, she was already so beautiful, cultured and well mannered that they snapped her up anyway. Vivi had never told him or Nami her reasons for joining the institute despite them telling her theirs, she’d always refused to talk about it. 

The girl was always more Nami’s friend than his, although they were close. He liked Vivi although he didn’t understand her all that well, all the same he felt protective of her and he was concerned for her.

“How are you? Are you okay?” He asks her carefully, clear on his meaning. 

“Zoro, I’m fine, really! Stop looking at me like I’m dying!” Vivi laughs melodiously. 

“But how are you Zoro? I’d thought that you were safe from all of this, I thought that Chopper had rigged your criteria so that no one could get you?” she asks looking at him with worry in her big brown eyes. 

“Well… Chopper found someone. I guess he didn’t have much choice when someone who matches comes along.” Zoro shrugs glancing over at Sanji. Fullbody places his hand almost patronisingly on Sanji’s shoulder, Zoro can’t hear their conversation from where he stands but the manner in which he violently shrugs off his vile uncle’s hand reminds Zoro that Sanji isn’t the man he’d first thought that he was. 

“What? They found you an assertive, gentle, non-violent man looking for true love?” Vivi snorts in disbelief. 

“Well I- wait. How did you know that?” He frowns looking suspiciously at the blue haired girl. 

“Ah, well… I read your report before I left. I broke into Chopper’s office to find mine with Nami and we looked at yours too.” The girl smiles bashfully at him. Great, had everyone but Sanji read the goddamn thing?

“And you didn’t bring me along? I could have done with reading it sooner, then I might have been able to remove that bastard behaviour teacher’s report.” He says feeling somewhat snubbed at being left out of Vivi and Nami’s secret mission.

“Zoro, sweetie, you’re many things but stealthy and subtle aren’t you. You’d sooner kick a door down than pick a lock, we’ve have been caught in five minutes if you’d come along!” Vivi smiles fondly at him. Zoro huffs but he supposes that she might be right. 

“So, who’s this miracle man then?” She asks looking curiously around the room.

“Sanji Prince, he’s over there. His bastard of an uncle is pissing him off at the moment, he usually doesn’t look that murderous.” Zoro explains pointing at Sanji who is presently scowling at Fullbody for all that he’s worth. 

“Sir Prince?! But he’s the heir to… oh… oh wow. Yes of course… clever.” Vivi murmurs wide eyed.

“What’s clever?” Zoro frowns looking back at Vivi in confusion.

“Ah, Chopper is. I can see why he paired you two together, he has a reputation for being quite kind hearted, although some people here think of that as a flaw. He… he has been okay to you hasn’t he? He’s not hurt you has he?” Vivi asks worriedly.

“He’s been fine actually, he seemed horrified when he realised what I’d been expecting. He didn’t even know the first thing about the contract and the things that we’re threatened with.” Zoro concedes, feeling strange to admit out loud that Sanji is actually okay, although it seems to be true.

“How could he not know?” The pale girl says in astonishment.

“Search me.” Zoro laughs.

“And you? Are you okay with… whoever bought you?” he asks in return, gesturing to the silver and blue padlock at Vivi’s throat. 

“Oh, I’m more than fine, Igaram is a gentleman, he’s never touched me.” Vivi smiles, waving away his concerns with her hand, a tight knot of worry in Zoro’s chest unwinds a little at that. 

Vivi looks around warily and hastily pulls Zoro away from the bar as he snags his drinks. She pulls him into a shaded corner between two pillars and out of the way of prying eyes.

“Zoro, have you seen Nami? I left before her but… well, there are rumours about her. They say that she escaped, that she freed herself from her collar and lives free. The institute tried to cover it up but no one has seen her since. But if anyone would have it’d be you, have… have you seen her?” Vivi whispers excitedly. 

Zoro’s heart clenches painfully. He doesn’t want to have this conversation, he wants to be somewhere, else, anywhere else. But… Vivi and Nami were close, she deserves the truth. The bottle in his hand shakes in his grip.

“Vivi, Nami is dead.” Zoro says in a blank voice. The words taste acidic in his mouth. 

“What?! No!” Vivi’s face is shocked, she can’t believe it, or rather she doesn’t want to believe it. Zoro doesn’t want it to be true either but what they want doesn’t affect what is the case.

“I tried to stop it, I took Nami and ran, I got my swords back and tried to fight when they cornered us. I nearly died doing it. Next thing I heard when I was better is that the mansion burnt down killing that bastard, all they found of Nami was ashes and her collar.” He explains in a dead voice. 

“But, if all they found was a collar and ashes she could have escaped. She could be alive Zoro!” Vivi insists desperately. Zoro looks away, he can’t stand to see her hopeful face.

“I thought that for a while, but it’s just fantasy. These collars don’t come off while you have a pulse, she’s dead. Ace and Luffy have never seen her and believe me they’ve looked, they’ve spoken to everyone that you’d need to speak to in order to get a new identity and no one has seen her. She’s dead.” He says coldly. 

“No… you must be wrong.” Vivi whimpers.

“She’s dead Vivi!” Zoro snaps furiously. 

“Zoro?” Sanji’s familiar voice asks from behind him. Sanji’s nimble fingers touch his shoulder lightly but he shakes off the blonde’s touch as if it burns him.

“Here’s you wine, and my beer too. I need something stronger.” Zoro growls, pressing the drinks into the startled man’s hands. 

He strides over to the bar and scowls at the barman.

“Rum, just give me the bottle.” Zoro orders the barman, the guy hesitates with the bottle in his hands so Zoro takes the decision away from him by leaning over the bar and taking it out of his hands. He snags a glass too and quickly fills it. He downs it in one ignoring the almost painful burn down his throat as the first glass goes down uneasily. Sanji comes over to him and takes his hand with the bottle in it, lowering it and setting the bottle on the bar top.

“I just spoke to Vivi, who is Nami?” Sanji asks quietly in his ear. 

Zoro snatches his hand back from Sanji and pours himself another glass. Maybe if he tells the rich pretty boy he’ll leave him in peace to drink.

“You know how Zeff isn’t your father?” He says back quietly, even as angry as he is he’s aware that they’re not in safe company. Sanji nods in silent curiosity.

“Well Nami wasn’t my sister.” He explains draining his glass and trying to numb the hollow feeling inside.

“Oh… oh Zoro. When… when did it happen?” Sanji asks him quietly. Zoro thinks that the cook’s eyes are filled with pity, fuck that, he doesn’t need pity and he certainly doesn’t want it. 

“Six months ago, now leave me alone.” Zoro growls back quietly.

“Put the drink down, you’re sick and I’m taking you home – at least that’s what I’ll tell Hina. Let’s go.” Sanji says standing up from his barstool and pulling Zoro from his. 

Zoro doesn’t want to stay so he allows Sanji to drag him from the fancy house filled with rich bastards. Sanji will have alcohol at his home, he can drink there in peace if the blonde will leave him alone. Sanji pulls him through the fancy ballroom and out into the night. The cook calls Franky and in minutes the mechanical man pulls around the front in the car looking surprised at their early departure. 

“Everything okay?” Franky asks, peering at them in the rear-view mirror over his sunglasses.

“Just drive home, and quickly.” Sanji says shooting him a worried look. 

The car ride passes in silence, Zoro doesn’t care, he just wants to get inside and then get drunk or sleep, preferably both. When they get in Zoro is somewhat surprised to find Sanji walking him to his room, or so he thinks.

“Wait, come to my room. I’ve got alcohol in mine.” Sanji says halting Zoro’s progress in the spot of corridor that is between their two rooms. The blonde opens his own bedroom door and gestures for Zoro to go inside. Unthinking or perhaps just uncaring of the risks he follows his master into his room. 

It’s a big lavish room. The bed in the centre of it is absolutely massive and plush looking, it’s set on a furry white rug that rests on top of the blue marble flooring covering the rest of the room. It feels cold under Zoro’s bare feet. He shucks his expensive tailored jacket off onto the fancy floor, Sanji takes his off with more care and hangs it up on a coat hanger. 

The blonde gestures to the two comfortable looking chairs by the wall at the foot end of the bed, it’s glass from ceiling to floor and looks out over the grounds and a pool below. Zoro had no idea that there was a pool in Sanji’s property, he doesn’t really care right now though. He drops himself into the chair to the left of the small table between them and looks approvingly at the ice filled crystal tumbler that Sanji places before him, the other man sets his own glass down in front of himself as he sits opposite Zoro.

“I’m going to catch hell for sneaking you out of there early, so make it worth my while.” Sanji says, uncorking a bottle of whiskey with his teeth.

“So I was wrong about you then.” Zoro says in a hollow voice. He should probably feel frightened or angry or betrayed if Sanji means what his words suggest, but Zoro is so numb from thinking about Nami that he’s not sure that he’d notice or care if Sanji hurt him like that. He feels as dead inside as Nami is all over. 

“Asshole, don’t insult me.” Sanji snaps and fills their glasses. 

“Have you ever talked about what happened to her? Besides Vivi tonight I mean.” Sanji asks as he set the bottle down. 

“Everyone who needs to know already knows.” Zoro answers and downs his glass, the ice clinking against his teeth. 

“But did you ever talk to anyone about it? I didn’t talk to anyone after I watched my mother drown, Zeff already knew of course and I didn’t want to tell anyone else. But not talking about it… it was like letting a wound go septic. It just… rotted inside me, it nearly killed me.” Sanji says slowly. 

“I eventually broke down, cried until I puked and then cried some more. I told Zeff everything, even though he knew, and somehow it made it better. So, from someone who’s been there, talk.” Sanji orders him and sips from his own glass. 

“It’s not the same.” He says looking away.

“Oh, what, your pain is so much more important than mine now?!” Sanji snaps irritably.

“It’s not that, Nami was family to me!” Zoro retorts.

“So was my mother! I had to watch her DROWN!” Sanji shouts at him, leaping up from his chair.

“Well that wasn’t your FAULT!” Zoro roars back shoving his chair away as he stands up angrily.

“Like yours was!” Sanji snarls at him.

“It WAS! She’s dead because of ME!” Zoro screams. 

Sanji blinks at him in surprise, as if a spell had been broken. Zoro wrenches his gaze away and draws a shaking breath, his hands are shaking on the table top so he clenches them into fists.

“Zoro… Zoro please tell me.” The cook begs, reaching across the table for him. 

“I don’t want to talk about it, it was my fault, so it’s not the same situation as your mother at all. Just- just don’t.” he mutters, pulling away from Sanji. 

“Unless you killed her yourself I doubt that her death is your fault. So talk.” Sanji insists, as he sits down in his own chair again.

“Why should I?” Zoro says stubbornly. 

“Why shouldn’t you? How can it possibly make it worse? I mean, forgive my bluntness but if she’s already dead what harm can it do?” Sanji points out coldly. 

Zoro’s jaw drops at that. He tries to come up with a suitable reply, other than telling Sanji to go die. He hesitates as the silence stretches longer and the words still fail him. 

“Pour me another drink.” He says eventually. Sanji smiles a little crookedly at him and rights his glass from where it had fallen and fills it again.

Zoro pulls his feet up onto the chair with him and sips from his glass, he rests it on his knees and talks almost as if to the glass instead of to Sanji.

“I don’t know what you know about the institute, apparently not much, but no one joins because they want to marry some rich kid like you. Despite what the adverts say. Every one of us has a story for why we signed up and they’re all awful.” Zoro says quietly.

“Why did you sign up?” Sanji asks curiously.

“You only get one horrifying story about my past, which one do you want?” Zoro says tersely as he looks at the blonde. 

“Both, but for now let’s go with Nami’s.” Sanji smiles slightly at him over the rim of his glass. 

Cocky bastard, Zoro thinks. 

“Nami came from a small village, it was small and not that successful but they got by. Nami and her sister were adopted by an ex-navy woman called Bellmeré, they were pretty poor but they got by too. When Nami was about eight a real scumbag fishman named Arlong came to her village with his thugs, he told them that unless they paid an extortionate amount for each person living in the village they’d kill them. Nami’s family didn’t have enough for all three of them and because of it Bellemeré was killed in front of the girls.” Zoro says with a sigh.

“My god, what happened?” Sanji gasps in horror.

“Well, Nami realised that she couldn’t fight Arlong, so she made a deal with him, if she could buy the village from him they would leave. Arlong agreed but only if Nami could pay the rest of the village’s money for the next six months upfront, something he never expected her to be able to do.” He continues.

“What did she do if she didn’t have the money?” the cook asks wide eyed.

“Well, when you join the institute you can name your own terms, you essentially haggle for yourself. You sell yourself for whatever you can convince them to give them for you, you name your own price. Nami signed up to the institute for double that amount, one of the highest prices ever. She gave her sister the remaining money and told her to keep it safe but to use it if anyone looked like they wouldn’t be able to pay one month. The rest she gave to Arlong and their agreement was made.” Zoro explains. 

“What was your price? What did you agree to?” Sanji asks suddenly. Zoro scowls at him, he’d explained that he wouldn’t be telling that story already hadn’t he?

“Anyway, Nami was smart, Nami had a plan. She would be bought eventually when she turned sixteen and she would steal the remaining money from whoever bought her, she’d give it to Arlong and buy her village back. She figured someone rich enough to buy her would have so much money that she could skim the top off of his accounts without him noticing. Then she’d find a way to lose her collar and be free. That was her plan.” Zoro explains and drinks slowly again. 

It had seemed like such a great plan at the time, he hadn’t had a plan. Nami had said that when she was free she’d come back and set him free, that she’d find him. She had been his plan. His alternative plan was either murdering the bastard that bought him or suicide. He looks up at Sanji and realises that his plan hadn’t exactly worked out either.

“What went wrong?” Sanji asks eventually. 

“On the morning of Nami’s sixteenth birthday her face flashed up on the board of departures, anyone who was bought showed up there, everybody on the grounds can see it. She’d made me swear not to stop her leaving, she needed to be bought for her plan. She expected her mate’s representative to show up to take her to the ceremony, but instead she found Arlong at the institute gates waiting for her and laughing. He’d bought her so that she could never buy her way free, and worse he was going to make her steal from other people to aid him, and as she belonged to him whatever she stole was his anyway. She’d never be free and neither would her village.” He says scowling at the ice in his drink.

“I took her, grabbed her hand and ran. I could escape from the institute at will and I did so regularly, Chopper allowed it because I always came back. The institute can track you wherever you go if you have a collar on, but I didn’t care. I had to get Nami away from Arlong. I ran with her, stole a car and drove to where I came from. I stole my swords back and… and I don’t know what I was planning to do. I’d thought perhaps I could cut us free maybe, or perhaps I could kill Arlong, I hadn’t really thought it out.” Zoro says shaking his head, he’d been so scared and so stupid. He couldn’t think with Nami sobbing uncontrollably next to him, she was always so cool in a bad situation but then she had just fallen to pieces. She knew that they couldn’t escape. 

“What happened?” Sanji asks in a worried voice.

“What do you think happened? They caught us, of course they did.” Zoro frowns, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. 

“The institute sent its dogs after us. It’s a horrible irony really, I’d once wanted nothing more than to face the world’s greatest swordsman in a fight and I got my wish.” He laughs bitterly and drains his glass again.

“You mean Dracule Mihawk? Hawk eyes?! He’s the world’s greatest, how are you even alive?!” the cook asks with almost comically wide eyes.

“I was a swordsman myself you know, before… before I sold myself.” Zoro points out.

“I’d thought… hah, I’d thought that it was a sign. Like some stupid book, there I was protecting a damsel in distress, admittedly not my true love or any crap like that but I did love Nami even if she was hardly a damsel. And I was protecting her from my sworn rival no less, in the place that I’d once called my home town. When that kind of thing happens in books the hero wins.” He laughs. He might as well laugh, his life was one big joke and he was the punch line. 

“I was armed but I might as well have fought him with toothpicks, I tried to protect her from him, I thought that I could beat him. It became abundantly clear to me before too long that I was hopelessly outclassed. He destroyed two of my swords and I knew that I couldn’t win. All I could do was to buy Nami time, I made her run and told Mihawk that if he wanted Nami he was going to have to go through me, he might have been the best but even he couldn’t just get by me like that without using his sword.” He explains. He remembers as clear as day as he stood stock still with his arms out facing Mihawk ready for death as long as it meant buying Nami more time in the vain hope that it might be the time that she needed. 

“What… what did he say?” the cook asks him shakily.

“He said that I was an idiot to throw my life away, but he applauded my bravery. He said it was a shame to waste such talent with a blade. He asked me if I was prepared to die. I said that I didn’t want to die, that I’d planned other things for my life, but that I wouldn’t let everything be taken from Nami and if my death meant her life then I would gladly give it. I told him that I wouldn’t step aside, I told him again that he’d have to go through me. So he did.” He says as he unbuttons his shirt and lets it slide off of his shoulders exposing his scar. The fine fabric slides smoothly off of his skin leaving him shirtless. Sanji’s quiet gasp is the loudest thing in the room. 

The blonde steps from his chair and almost stumbles towards Zoro, falling on his knees before him. Pale shaking fingers reach out and touch the topmost tip of Zoro’s scar at his collar bone. His fingers are cold and slightly damp from the whiskey glass and they bring Zoro’s skin up in goose bumps. Sanji’s fingers trail down his scar, sliding in the gouge in his flesh that will never knit back together again. Sanji’s fingers are so deep in his scar that Zoro almost wonders if Sanji means to plunge his hands through it and touch Zoro’s insides. Sanji’s hand continues lower, his face showing a mixture of horror and awe as he does so. Finally his fingers stop at Zoro’s hip and Sanji lets out a startled breath. 

“How are you alive?” the blonde asks after a moment. 

“I don’t know.” Zoro answers honestly. 

“All I know is that before this Nami was alive and when I woke up she was back in Arlong’s hands. Mihawk even did me the service of making the institute strike the event from my records if I lived, perhaps so that I could see that my sacrifice achieved nothing, who knows? But before I was well enough to mount an escape attempt and rescue her the fire broke out at Arlong’s mansion. When the fire brigade got there all they found of Nami was ashes and a charred collar.” He scowls.

“If I had been stronger or faster or better with my swords I could have won or at least lasted longer so that Nami could run and escape for good. It’s my fault. So you see, it’s different to your tragedy, this one was my fault.” He finishes quietly. 

“Bullshit!” Sanji snaps, his head jerking up to look Zoro in the eyes. 

Zoro’s emotions are fraught already but Sanji’s curse snaps something inside of him, he swings for the cook. Sanji dodges back away from him and blocks his next punch with his leg. The fight is sloppy and uncontrolled but Zoro is fighting with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart. Still, he manages to knock Sanji to the ground and pins him under him with one hand trapped above him and the other between them. 

“You don’t understand! You’ll never understand!” He screams in Sanji’s face.

“It’s my fault, I should have been stronger! I’m never strong enough, whenever someone needs me I always fail and they die!” He yells incoherently. Sanji stares up at him with shocked blue eyes. It’s not until he notices the tear fall onto Sanji’s cheek that he realises that he’s crying. He arches up off of Sanji and forward onto his own hands, burying his face in them. Sanji’s freed hand slides down between them to fall on his stomach. 

“Zoro, it’s not your fault.” Sanji intones seriously. Zoro gasps, jerking up out of his hands at the words.

“It’s not your fault.” The man repeats as Zoro looks down at his golden hair splayed out on the blue marble floor. It’s some impossible colour, gold. The colour of his precious earrings, he could drop them into Sanji’s hair and never find them they’re so alike. God, he’s gone crazy, why is he thinking this?

“It’s the institute’s fault, them and Mihawk. It’s them, not you that are to blame.” Sanji says certainly. Zoro curls up and buries his face in Sanji’s impossibly gold hair as if he could lose himself in it. He shakes silently and tries to repress the sob, he hasn’t felt like this since the night that he heard Nami died.

“They cut my heart out.” Zoro breathes against Sanji’s scalp. And it’s true, since he heard that Nami was nothing more than ash and screamed himself to sleep he’s felt dead inside. He’d been starting to feel a little more normal when he was with Ace and Luffy but even then something in him felt frozen and dead. 

“You still have a heart, can’t you feel how fast it’s beating?” the man below him breathes reaching up almost gingerly and touching Zoro’s chest over his heart. The touch is feather light and Zoro really can feel his blood pounding through his skin as if it’s trying to pump harder to meet Sanji’s touch. 

“I promise you Zoro, I will do everything to destroy them. I don’t care what I have to do, you’ll be free and they’ll be the ones reduced to ash.” Sanji promises, his hand splaying out over Zoro’s heart. 

Zoro presses his palms together and closes his eyes, he was never a religious man – his life had always been too terrible for that kind of faith, but one could almost believe that the golden haired man below him was an angel, a vengeful angel. He prays that it is true, he wants Sanji to keep his promise. He inhales the smell of Sanji’s golden hair and presses one solitary chaste kiss to Sanji’s scalp. If Sanji will keep his word then Zoro will happily belong to him, it’ll be the least that he can do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter is blatantly inspired by Syb's beautiful picture worship which you absolutely MUST look at! http://syblatortue.deviantart.com/art/Worship-239344317?q=boost%3Apopular%20zoro%20worship&qo=0


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of splashing water wakes Sanji, at first he thinks that he’s on the sea again with Zeff after he and the old man had been rescued, but as he realises that he’s in his bedroom he understands that it’s not the case. Sleepily he sits up in bed and frowns at the noise. It’s kind of rhythmic but it’s not the taps dripping or rain against the windows. He slides out of his bed and walks quietly over to the window. Looking down at the pool he sees a flash of green hair and an endless expanse of tan skin, Zoro is swimming in his pool. 

He quietly opens his balcony door and almost sneaks out, he feels ridiculous for doing so, it’s his damn house, his balcony and his goddamn pool, he shouldn’t have to sneak anywhere! All the same he sneaks out and peeks down and Zoro. The other man is swimming like crazy, as if he’s personally angry at the water or something. Sanji’s mouth twitches unhappily, he recognises the look of a stressed workout having had many himself. The conversation and fight that he and Zoro had last night must have disturbed the other man. 

He closes his eyes and remembers as clear as day Zoro’s shaking chest above him, that deep scar bisecting his vision of the man above him and the hammering heart under his fingertips. Zoro was damaged and scarred, easily as much inside as his chest was on the outside. He sighs and looks down at the other man, he can’t help but notice the frankly perfect body that the older man is sporting but it makes him feel like a complete pervert to think about.

Somewhat disgusted at himself he goes back inside and shuts the door. Zoro is attractive, anyone with eyes in their head could see that. He had dark tan skin and that exotic looking hair, as dumb a colour as it was Sanji couldn’t argue that it was certainly striking. His earrings and his dark looks just screamed danger so with all of that combined Sanji was practically swooning for the man. It was torture really, he had never felt like such a perverted bastard as he did when he was around Zoro. He had sworn that he wouldn’t exploit his position as someone’s master when his father had curtly informed him that he was to have a mate, but he hadn’t expected Zoro. He’d gone along and answered all of the questions and submitted to all of the examinations, he’d expected some guy to show up that would agree to come along to parties and play the part but otherwise lead a separate life from him. But instead he’d got five foot and eleven inches of surly, sultry, hotness that called itself Zoro. 

He whines in a pained way in the back of his throat. He likes Zoro, he really does. If Zoro had been someone that he’d have met at a party he’d long ago have talked the man into bed with him, taken him apart and made him beg for more. But he can’t do that to Zoro, he won’t. And if he ever needs reminding why he just needs to remember the looks of fear that Zoro gave him on his first day or two here. When Zoro had been afraid that he would… god, he could hardly think about it. Zoro might be too proud to admit it but he had been scared of him. He would never give Zoro reason to think that of him, so he couldn’t touch the other man. 

He throws himself back onto his bed and pulls the covers over himself even his head. He squeezes his eyes shut and pretends that he’s not there. Every so often since he had been forced to leave Zeff he’d do this, he’d fantasise about what his life would have been like if his father hadn’t found him, it was a well worn fantasy. 

He’d still be in the Baratie, happy and with people that he loved. He wasn’t rich but they were happy and they all had each other. Maybe he would have been working there one day and Zoro might have come in, the handsome man with the collar around his neck would certainly have stood out, and Zoro did say that he used to sneak off of the institute grounds a lot. Maybe he would have flirted with Zoro, although it was unlikely. He tended to be attracted to men differently than he was to women. He appreciated almost every woman that he saw and his attraction to those that he liked burned bright and fast, it was nice but mostly superficial. With men however most passed completely under his radar of interest, he just didn’t care for most of them. But Zoro certainly pushed all of the right buttons for Sanji, and with guys like Zoro Sanji had a tendency to fall hard, which he could feel he was already doing.

Maybe Zoro would have sauntered into the Baratie looking for a meal and flashed that sly smirk at him, maybe they would have insulted each other and bickered like they did now. Perhaps after seeing him enough Sanji would have been brave enough to ask him out for a drink and they would have hit it off. But then… but then some other bastard would have bought Zoro and taken him away from him. 

He could wish that Zoro had never sold himself in the first place and that his father had never found him. Sanji sighs into his pillow and remembers an idiom that Zeff used to growl at him whenever he spoke to Zeff about wishing things had been different. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Man that had always pissed Sanji off. 

He dresses and walks down the stairs quietly thinking about all that Zoro had told him about last night. He wants to do something to make it better, he wants to make up for all of the terrible things that had happened to Zoro. He wants to make up for the fact that he owns Zoro, he feels so guilty about it. And if he is honest with himself he feels guilty for being attracted to Zoro when, as an honourable man he should be thinking only pure things about someone that he held so much power over, to abuse that power would be sick. But how could he make Zoro feel better? He couldn’t bring his friend back from the dead, he couldn’t go back in time and stop Zoro from signing himself over to the institute and he couldn’t help Zoro win his swordfight. 

He stops in his tracks with that thought. Zoro was a swordsman… perhaps… perhaps he might want to spar with Brook, after all the skeleton was a swordsman as well as a musician. He could give Zoro one of his passions back! He practically runs out to the pool then, excited at the prospect of making Zoro happy. 

Sanji hesitates at the edge of the pool, he doesn’t want to interrupt Zoro’s workout if the man is busy. He sits down instead at the edge of the pool with his bare legs dangling in the water, if Zoro notices him then fine, if he doesn’t then that’s fine too, it’s not like the view is bad. He mentally kicks himself for that thought and shoves the idea out of his mind. 

Zoro’s palm slams into the edge of the pool and as he turns to start another lap Zoro seems to spot him. Zoro’s eyes travel up him but the man is too out of breath to say anything, instead he pants and looks up at him curiously. It pleases Sanji that Zoro no longer looks at him with concern, but all the same the other man doesn’t look overjoyed to see him either.

“Hey.” Sanji remarks lamely giving him a half wave. Zoro doesn’t answer and instead just breathlessly hauls himself out of the pool and flops on the side next to Sanji.

“I’d wondered what that frantic splashing sound was that woke me up. I wasn’t sure if you were swimming or drowning very inefficiently.” Sanji teases Zoro with a grin. Zoro flips him off with a scowl which only makes Sanji grin wider, he doesn’t know why but aggravating Zoro is about the most fun thing he’s ever done. 

“You’d think that someone who’s hair looks like seaweed would be better in the water.” He continues thoughtfully. At that Zoro kicks up a wave of water at them both, however Zoro has the advantage of being already wet and in swimming shorts, Sanji on the other hand is nicely dressed in clean, and up until just now, dry clothes. 

He yelps in horror which makes Zoro chuckle darkly. Sanji scowls at the tan man and kicks him in the ankle. Zoro punches him in the back, so naturally Sanji elbows him in the arm. This squabbling escalates until Zoro snags an arm around Sanji’s waist and hurls them both into the pool. 

Sanji’s fine linen shorts are completely underwater and probably ruined too, his expensive light blue shirt isn’t looking so good either. 

“You bastard!” Sanji accuses and kicks a wall of water at Zoro who is laughing madly. To Sanji’s pleasure Zoro actually inhales some water mid laugh and ends up in a coughing fit. 

Figuring that there’s no point in getting out of the water now as his clothes are as ruined as they’re going to be he decides to stay. He looks at Zoro thoughtfully and remembers why he’d come down here.

“Before you tried to drown me I had come here to talk to you, you know.” He starts with a sigh, swimming over to the side of the pool and leaning against the wall.

“Yeah?” Zoro asks disinterestedly, seemingly trying to see how deep in the pool he can get while on his tiptoes instead of swimming. 

“I’d been thinking about Brook, he’s a swordsman too. I think I remember him saying something about a sabre sword, if that means anything to you.” He explains, wishing that he’d paid more attention to Brook when he’d been talking before. 

"That's fencing." Zoro says instantly, looking up at him as Sanji hauls himself out of the pool to sit on the side in his soaked clothes.

"That's... different from what you do I take it then?" Sanji concludes as the look on Zoro's face is one of interest instead of exuberant joy as he'd hoped for.

"Well, I suppose they both use swords... Not that a sabre sword and my katana Wado have a lot in common..." Zoro says slightly sympathetically.

"Wow, you're trying to be nice, I must be really wrong." he winces.

"So... Wado, is that a kind of sword? I know that a sabre is a kind of sword." Sanji says hoping not to sound completely stupid and wishing that he'd paid attention to Brook when he'd talked about it in the past.

"No, Wado is a specific sword, she was my sword. Until I became someone else’s property, so I can’t own things." Zoro says bitterly and sinks low into the water, going under the surface and sinking to the bottom of the pool.

Sanji bites his lip, he can’t help but feel guilty about Zoro’s status. He isn’t sure whether or not he wants to know the exact circumstances to Zoro’s sale, he doesn’t know if it would only make him feel worse. Before he can think too much about it though Zoro thankfully resurfaces from the bottom of the pool.

"You look like some kind of swamp creature when you do that with your seaweed hair." Sanji teases. Zoro splashes a wave of water at him but Sanji doesn't care because it means that he's broken Zoro's sad mood.

"Anyway, I actually came down here to tell you that I'm cooking breakfast, but now I have to go shower and get dressed again!" He says dramatically as he stands up.

"My heart bleeds for you." Zoro smirks up at him from where he floats treading water in the middle of the pool.

Sanji walks back off into the house and straight to his room where he sheds his sodden clothes on the floor and steps into the shower to get the scent of chlorine off of him.

As he comes out of the bathroom dry and clean once more he spies his small tablet computer on his bedside table. He runs his fingers over it, turning it on. He opens up the Internet with a tap of his finger and with a shrug and figuring that he has nothing to lose he searches for the name "Wado".

The results fan out under Sanji's fingertips, the first suggestion being from some weapons wiki suggesting "Wado Ichimonji" the picture of a white sword under it makes him curious enough to click on it. It informs him that the sword is apparently one of twenty legendarily great swords. Sanji raises a surprised eyebrow and scrolls down to the owners section. There are a long list of owners but the most recent give him pause the second to last appears to be a small girl, there's a photo of her in front of a dojo with several other students. He's about to scroll past it when he spies the all too familiar shock of green hair on a small boy. It's Zoro, he was clearly only young, maybe eight, and he's got a look on his face that's far too serious and determined for a boy of his age. Curious he reads the text about the girl and can't help but immediately spot the words "tragic death" at the end of the text.

Under that there is a picture of Zoro, from what happened last night Sanji knows that it was taken only a year ago. Zoro is in the centre of the picture bloodied and wounded with the sword clutched in his left hand, at his feet are two broken swords and behind him is a terrified looking orange haired girl. Nami, Sanji concludes.

"Oh, Zoro." Sanji breathes as he looks at the next picture. The green haired man is sprawled on the floor with a deep gash from collarbone to hip bone, he's drenched in blood and Sanji can scarcely believe that Zoro survived. Towering above him is the fearsome Dracule Mihawk sheathing his sword. He wants to go inside that picture and pick Zoro up, heal his wounds, kill Mihawk for harming him and protect Zoro's friend Nami. But he can't protect Zoro from the past. But... he can change the man's present. He flicks down the page more to see that the sword is currently back in the hands of the man who owned the dojo that the little girl and the younger Zoro were at. He notes down the address and hurriedly dresses.

He runs down the stairs two at a time until he almost runs into the back of Zoro.

"Sanji," Zoro says catching him by the elbow and looking at him with his dark eyes. The man's shirt is undone a fair few buttons and Sanji can just see the edge of that scar peeking out, once again setting off that stupid protective instinct that he's suddenly developed for the other man.

"About what you said about Brook, if he wants someone to fence with I'm sure I can learn." Zoro offers. Sanji wonders if Zoro thinks that he's offended him.

"You don't have to." he assures him.

"No, it could be fun. Any sword fighting is better than none." Zoro says flashing a smile at him.

Sanji doesn't say anything but just nods, even more determined to get Zoro his sword back, Zoro won't settle for second best whilst he's around! He breezes into the kitchen with Zoro at his heels. He steps around the counter, takes a calming breath and turns to Zoro.

"What would you like me to make for you?" he asks with a smile.

"Whatever you're having." Zoro shrugs. Sanji represses the urge to kick him. Zoro has said this for every meal so far or at most gone along with someone else's request, he seems to enjoy the food enough but he never asks for anything. Sanji wonders if the marimo just doesn't care or if he doesn't feel bold enough to ask. He considers Zoro's strenuous work out and his potentially vulnerable emotional state after last night, protein rich comfort food then.

"Sausages, eggs and hash browns then?" he suggests hopefully.

"Sure, sounds great." Zoro agrees easily. Sanji pouts as Zoro sits down, he would almost have been happier if Zoro had said no, at least that would be a real opinion.

Zoro sits and falls into conversation with Usopp and Franky about something, Zoro's stopped looking so confused about Sanji insisting on doing the cooking for everyone since he's been allowed to help wash. A fact that Franky has teased him endlessly about, he'd previously not let anyone else touch his equipment or crockery as people broke or damaged them too often, but Zoro is careful and it seems to make him a little happier, so Sanji lets him.

He cooks breakfast while deep in thought. If Zoro lost his sword then maybe he could get it back for him, he could track down the dojo owner and buy it back, it wasn’t like he was short on money was it? Grinning to himself about his plan he serves up breakfast to everyone and finds himself quietly pleased that again Zoro seems to enjoy his food. Sanji finishes before anyone else and stands up quickly with his plate.

“I’m ah… going to be out today. I’ll take the car by myself Franky, you’re certainly due a day off.” Sanji says casually as he slides his plate into the sink.

“Uh, thanks I guess?” Franky says looking at him suspiciously. 

“Should I grab a coat or something?” Zoro asks, looking up at him.

“Oh no, you can stay here. Relax, hang out with these two, do whatever you want. I’ll be back tonight.” He answers quickly and slips off to the garage, leaving Zoro with a puzzled look on his face. 

He starts the car quickly and drives off into the sky before anyone can question him further. He’s so excited that he’s almost bouncing up and down in his seat. He’s always been a bit of a people pleaser, especially when it comes to food or gifts, for him giving someone something that they really want is far better than receiving something and he can’t help but be excited to give Zoro his sword back. He wonders how the man will feel about it, he hopes that it will make him happy but the sword itself seems tied to a lot of painful memories. 

He parks up in a rural area outside Shimotsuki Village, surprisingly it isn’t more than an hour’s drive from his house, his car is clearly the most expensive thing in the whole village and Sanji, not for the first time, feels uncomfortable at his level of underserved and unwanted wealth.

He walks quietly to the Isshin Dojo that he’d read about, it’s not hard to spot as it’s on top of the hill. He can hear children and teenagers sparring, talking and laughing together up the hill, although a few of the kids have already seen him and excitedly run past him to stare at his car. Sanji smiles at them and their little wooden swords on their hips. He looks back up at the door to the dojo and this time sees a tall man standing there with long dark hair, a serious face and glasses on. 

“Can I help you?” He asks flatly. 

“I’m hoping that you can.” Sanji smiles up at him. 

“Let’s hear it.” The man says sharply, as if he already dislikes Sanji. He finds himself a little taken aback by this but he supposes that maybe the man objects to his wealth and has made assumptions based on his car. Still, he should really be polite. 

“May I come inside?” he asks hopefully. 

“Shoes off.” The older man orders him and strides inside. Sanji hesitates at the door but obligingly takes his shoes off. 

Inside the dojo is simple, plain wooden flooring and paper walls. There is training equipment stacked neatly in the corners and padded matting in the centre of the room. Sanji breathes in and finds the pine smell soothing, he wonders if the woodsy theme to Zoro’s room reminds him of this. He realises that it was Robin who suggested it and he wonders if she had been here herself in order to gain that knowledge, she really was a clever lady if she had.

Almost immediately Sanji spots the white sword on the wall hanging on elaborate display hooks. Its sheath and handle are pure snowy white and even with Sanji’s very limited knowledge of blades he can tell that this one is special. He steps towards it in awe and is only halted when the other man speaks.

“It’s not for sale.” The man states with an angry note in his voice. 

Sanji pauses and looks at the older man in surprise.

“How rude of me not to even introduce myself first, my name is Sanji Prince. Your name is Koshiro isn’t it?” Sanji smiles pleasantly at the man and holds his hand out in offer of a handshake. The man looks at his offered hand with a scowl until Sanji uncomfortably retracts it.

“So you looked me up when you decided that you wanted to buy Wado Ichimonji. Well, sorry to have you come all this way but she’s not for sale, so you can leave.” Koshiro answers coldly. 

Sanji is aware that a few of the older kids have gathered at the door and are listening with badly feigned nonchalance. He frowns a little at the man but decides to make an offer anyway.

“Listen, the sword isn’t for me, I don’t know a damn thing about sword fighting and I certainly wouldn’t be able to appreciate such craftsmanship. But I want to buy her for a friend of mine, and I know that having her would mean the world to him, so really I’m prepared to offer you any amount of money you want, I can afford it.” Sanji says honestly but the older man’s scowl deepens.

“You’re not the first rich boy to come up here offering to buy her and you won’t be the last. Nor would you be the first person I’ve said no to, and you won’t be the last. Maybe you’ll be one of the stupid people who try to take her from me when you realise that I won’t sell her, that’s not worked out well for anyone else who tried it so I wouldn’t recommend that either. What I would recommend is that you go home and think of another present for your friend.” The man growls. 

“I’m not trying to threaten you old man, I’m just asking you to at least consider my offer!” Sanji exclaims in exasperation. Koshiro’s eyes suddenly narrow and glare at him with laser focus, this time not so much at Sanji as a whole but instead at something on him. Sanji glances down and sees that the small golden key to Zoro’s padlock has slipped free of his shirt. 

“So, you’re the kind of man that thinks that he can buy anything with money, even people.” The old man says darkly. 

“Not really. Look, I just want to buy the sword.” Sanji says, tucking the key back into his shirt.

“You’d have to steal her over my cold dead body before I’d ever let someone like you take her. Now get out.” Koshiro orders.

“Well someone stole her from you before, maybe Zoro will again if I tell him it’s still here. I just wanted to buy it for him so that he could have it back, it seemed to mean a lot to him.” Sanji snaps, finally feeling too irritated with the man’s unreasonably hostile attitude to hold his tongue any further.

He turns and walks towards the doorway. He doesn’t want to leave without the sword but even he can see that the man is never going to sell, no matter how much he bargains or pleads. So he’s surprised to hear the sound of the sword being removed from its hooks on the wall. He turns in surprise wondering if Koshiro has changed his mind.

He supposes that it’s years of training with Zeff that makes him move when he sees the flash of movement in his vision. All he knows is that one second he’s turning to see what was going on and the next he’s leaping back as Wado Ichimonji slices silently through the air. He yelps in surprise as the sword swings for him again but he manages to block it with his foot by kicking at the man’s wrist. He would have been able to block the blade itself if he hadn’t taken off his steel toe shoes.

He back flips away and lands just in time to block another swipe. The older man is quicker though and clearly intent on harming Sanji whilst Sanji himself is too busy with defending himself and wondering what the hell is going on to put up the best fight that he could. His foot catches the edge of the mat and he stumbles to the ground, the blade flashes above him but suddenly two young boys, in their early teens at most, are there holding Koshiro back. 

“Don’t do it sensei! If you kill him think of what’ll happen to you, to the dojo!” The first boy pleads, holding back his sensei’s hand.

“No one will find the body!” Koshiro roars shoving past the boy.

“Kuina and Zoro wouldn’t want this!” The second pleads. That seems to still the older man for a moment.

“Zoro… Zoro trained here didn’t he? I saw his picture, or I thought it was him anyway, how many other green haired kids are there running around after all?” Sanji says inching carefully away from the blade that hovers only inches from his throat.

“Yes, before you bought him this was his home.” Koshiro growls. Sanji winces, there’s not much point denying it and he’s not wanting to get into the habit of trying to aggravate men who are trying to kill him by lying to them, after all if he does so he may not live long enough for it to become much of a habit. 

“I just wanted… I wanted to try to give him back something of his, to make up for everything that the institute has taken from him. He isn’t something that I own, not to me anyway.” Sanji answers honestly. Koshiro seems to pause to consider this so Sanji keeps talking.

“He told me about protecting Nami, about how he took his sword back and tried to protect her. He told me about how he failed. He blames himself even though it’s not his fault and… I just thought that maybe I could make it better somehow. I thought that I could ask you for his sword back, pay you whatever you wanted and give him something of his own back to him.” He adds. 

“Why do you care how Zoro feels?” Koshiro asks suspiciously. 

“What?” Sanji says confused. What does he mean?

“Why do you care? What’s it matter to you what he feels? Or are you trying to play nice so that you’ll get what you paid for?” the man questions with a scowl and jabs the sword closer to Sanji’s face.

“I care because I’m not a sociopath and Zoro’s a human being with feelings! Even if he is a sarcastic irritating bastard I care about him! And I highly doubt that even if I was trying to get him to sleep with me that giving him his sword back would help me achieve that!” Sanji shouts, feeling fed up of being attacked and having his character insulted again.

“Now, either kill me or let me up, I don’t have all day!” He snaps. 

Koshiro looks at him, actually looks at him as if trying to see if he’s being genuine. Sanji can only conclude that he’s seen something worthwhile as he steps back, although he does notice that the man doesn’t sheath his sword. 

"You're either brave or you're stupid." Koshiro says finally straightening up completely and sheathing the sword.

The older man shoos the two younger boys out and sits down before Sanji with the sword in his lap, he taps a finger on it thoughtfully as he looks at Sanji.

"So you own Zoro then." He states simply.

"I don't believe that it's possible to own someone, but I have some papers that say I do, yes." Sanji answers diplomatically as he sits up.

"Do you know why this sword means so much to me, or to Zoro? Do you even know what you're asking for?" Koshiro asks him as he looks at him levelly.

"Zoro hasn't told me the story, no. But I know about Nami, that he used it to protect her." Sanji answers.

"That was that girl's name? Zoro and girls are trouble, always have been." Koshiro snorts dismissively.

"How do you mean?" He frowns trying to suppress the tickle of jealousy at the back of his neck, Zoro had said that Nami was like a sister to him.

"He's too self sacrificing, especially when it comes to people he cares about, girls just seem to be bad luck for him. This used to be my daughter Kuina's sword, she and Zoro always used to train together, Zoro was desperate to surpass her. He never did. If she hadn't had her accident then I'm sure he would have done so, but I guess we'll never know." Koshiro sighs.

"I read that she died, I'm sorry for your loss." Sanji says gently.

"She fell and hit her head, a stupid accident really. I wish it had killed her instantly, instead she was in hospital fighting for her life for days." Koshiro says harshly, his eyes cold and angry.

"She was my only child, and... in grief a man can say thoughtless things. I said that if I had been rich, I suppose as rich as someone like you must be, that I would have been able to pay for the kind of treatments that would bring her back to me." Koshiro says bitterly.

"You have to be careful what you say around children." The man says simply, looking down at the white sword in his lap with regret in his eyes.

"What do you mean? How would saying that if you'd had the money for better treatment have-" Sanji starts but is cut short by a horrible idea stealing over his mind. He remembers what Zoro had said about setting your own price when you sold yourself. If Zoro had thought that they needed money to save his friend's life...

"No... Tell me that he didn't." Sanji breathes in horror.

"You're the one with a key around your neck." Koshiro snaps at him.

"He made a deal that he would sell himself to the institute if they would pay any medical costs for Kuina that I asked for, those were his terms." Koshiro explains sombrely.

"But he was so young, surely someone else had to sign off on him making that deal, did you-" Sanji frowns.

"I would never have agreed to that! The law says that if you're less than thirteen your parents have to agree, but that law doesn't apply to orphans, there're regarded as being responsible for themselves. Everyone in the institute is an orphan, or damn close." the old man snaps angrily.

"I... I didn't know. So, did the treatment not work?" Sanji asks, already knowing the end result, that the girl was dead and Zoro was his.

"We never got to find out. Whilst Zoro was making that stupid deal Kuina passed away, even of she hadn't she was past saving by that point anyway, but Zoro hadn't realised that. There was no charge to release her body, so the institute didn't have to pay a penny, the stupid boy sold his life for absolutely nothing." Koshiro says venomously.

"Zoro..." Sanji breathes sadly. He can't even bear to imagine what Zoro must have felt like when he realised.

"Take it, give it back to Zoro. It belongs to him now." Koshiro says holding out the sword in his hands to Sanji.

Hesitantly Sanji reaches out and takes it from the old man. It's heavy in his hands and for the first time he wonders if having this sword will make Zoro happy or not, it almost seems cursed for him.

"And these two are his too, don't open that one though, it cuts everyone except Zoro, it's a problem child." Koshiro warns and places two more swords in Sanji's arms. Sanji is surprised and slightly suspicious of the old man's sudden change of heart, but he isn't going to risk losing Zoro's swords.

"Thank you. I can pay you whatever you think is fair." Sanji offers, standing up with the swords in his arms.

"They're not mine to sell, they're Zoro's he'll tell you what a fair price is." Koshiro smiles slowly at him. Sanji's suspicion rises further.

"Well, thank you." Sanji says eventually.

"Give them to Zoro, and tell him that he's always welcome in my home, no matter what." Koshiro says solemnly.

"I will." Sanji nods and, with nothing else to say, walks to the door. He stops to put his shoes back on and feels a little concerned at the pairs of shocked eyes on him from the students around the dojo. Determined to remain calm he picks the three swords up and walks quietly to his car, climbs inside and drives off.

He gets about five minutes away before he has to stop and think. He was sure that Koshiro meant to kill him and if those boys hadn't been so quick then he might have given Sanji a real run for his money and, since he was without his shoes at the time, done some real harm. But then he so suddenly changed his mind, why? He'd been so insistent that he wouldn't let the sword go and then he'd just let him walk out of the door with three. He had thought that perhaps the man meant to jump him when his back was turned but he didn't, none of the students did either.

Confused but without answers he starts up his car again and drives home. He parks in the garage and sits for a moment looking at the three swords leaning in the footwell against his front passenger seat. Was he doing the right thing? Damn it all, even if he wasn't it was too late to back out now. He grabs the swords and gets out of the car.

He bumps into Franky tinkering in the workshop. The cyborg looks up curiously and gives the three swords in his hands an assessing look.

"Where's Zoro?" Sanji asks, almost anxious to get his gift over with.

"In the gym, he hadn't found it until now. He was pretty excited, like a kid in a candy store. I suppose it explains how he looks so good." Franky answers, pushing his glasses up into his hair.

"Been shopping then?" the older man adds looking at the swords curiously.

"Not exactly." Sanji mutters and heads off quickly in the direction of the gym. He holds the three swords in his hand behind his back and finds that his nervousness is growing with each step. By the time he sticks his head around the door of the gym he's almost trembling with nerves.

Zoro is doing push-ups in a handstand when he gets there, he's shirtless and even in his state of panic he finds himself staring for a few seconds before clearing his throat to announce his presence.

Zoro drops to his feet and slumps back sprawled on the floor, his skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

"You weren't gone long." Zoro remarks looking up at him from the floor.

"Don't sound so disappointed, marimo." Sanji jokes weakly.

"Why're you hiding behind the door?" Zoro asks inquisitively tilting his head at Sanji's half hidden stance. In his hidden hand Sanji holds Zoro's swords.

"I... I have something for you. Close your eyes." Sanji commands on a whim, trying for an authoritative voice to cover up his nervousness.

"What am I, five?" Zoro snorts, clearly unaffected by Sanji’s supposed authority.

"Just do it." he says jiggling on the balls of his feet impatiently. Zoro squints at Sanji for a moment before breaking out into a massively smug grin.

"You're nervous!" Zoro declares triumphantly.

"No I'm not!" Sanji denies hotly, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"You ARE!" Zoro crows with laughter.

"Just close your goddamn eyes!" He snaps. Zoro smirks at him but does what he's told this time.

Biting his lip anxiously Sanji steps into the room and walks over to where Zoro is sat on the floor, leaning back casually on his elbows with his eyes shut. Sanji kneels down and, not for the first time, is struck by how attractive Zoro is. He's not boyishly pretty and he's not got a soft romantic look to him that Sanji has been told that he possesses. Nor, despite the muscles, is Zoro manly and rugged like a lumberjack. But... he is attractive. He has high cheekbones that are sharp and on anyone else might look too harsh, but with his tan skin and dark eyes look just right on him, and his clever mouth twisted into the sneaky grin that he's wearing now looks just perfect. Suddenly Sanji remembers what it was like to kiss Zoro. The other man had been somewhat tense at first but after that he'd participated in a way Sanji hadn't expected but had found addictive. He wants to kiss Zoro again now, but the heavy gold padlock resting in the dip between Zoro's collarbones reminds him why he can't. He hopes that perhaps this gift is enough.

He pulls the swords from behind his back and places them gently in Zoro's lap. The other man's eyes snap open instantly and his face is wiped clean by shock. Zoro tries unsuccessfully to start several sentences mostly asking how, what or why.

"Are you giving these to me?" Zoro eventually manages.

"I said that they were for you didn't I?" Sanji points out as he sits down in front of Zoro and, out of an attempt to cover his nerves, lights a cigarette.

"Why?" Zoro asks staring at him wide eyed.

"Don't you want them? I was worried that they might bring up bad memories... I hope-" he starts feeling concerned that he made the wrong choice.

"What?! No! I want them! I- they mean everything to me!" the green haired man exclaims, clutching the three swords to his chest as if Sanji might take them away.

"Then that's why." Sanji smiles in relief and blows a stream of smoke out to the side.

"You did this to make me happy?" the other man asks in a small wonder filled voice.

"I think that you might be too dumb to understand what presents are moss-head." Sanji laughs awkwardly and taps the ash off of the end of his cigarette. Zoro stares at him for a second before launching himself at him and mashing their mouths together almost painfully. Sanji should be pleased, a gorgeous man is kissing him, but he's not pleased, he's pissed off.

"I didn't do this so that you'd kiss me, I didn't do it to make you like me. I did it because I wanted to and because I thought it might make you happy. So stop that." Sanji says firmly as he places his hand on Zoro’s chest to push him away. Zoro does move back slightly, his lip caught between his teeth in a rare display of uncertainty. Sanji has seen him scared, angry and relaxed, but uncertain is a new thing for Zoro. 

“I just… wanted to say thank you.” Zoro says, his eyes taking in Wado in his hand before glancing back up at Sanji. 

“So just say it then.” He retorts.

“Thank you.” Zoro grins at him. The green-haired man slides Wado free of her sheath and marvels at her. With a sigh that sounds like something Sanji would be pleased to hear falling from a lover’s lips Zoro runs his finger along the flat of the blade and tenderly touches the edge itself. Sanji doesn’t know anything about swords but he knows about knives and from that knowledge he can see that Wado is sharp. He feels grateful that the old man didn’t catch him with that blade, he’d have been dead in an instant if he had.

“How… how did you convince Koshiro to give this to you?” Zoro asks suspiciously, eyeing Sanji over the blade.

“I asked, offered him money. Told him who it was for, then he tried to kill me. And… then, I don’t know. Two kids hauled him away and talked him down and then suddenly he just gave them to me, I don’t know what changed his mind. Oh… he told me to tell you something too.” Sanji says still feeling confused by the other man’s behaviour and sudden change of heart. Zoro raises an arched eyebrow at him curiously.

“When I offered him money he said that the swords weren’t his to sell and that you’d tell me what was fair. He said to tell you that you were always welcome in his home, no matter what. Then he gave me the swords.” Sanji repeats, the least that he can do is to get the old man’s message right. 

Zoro stares at him for a second or two before barking a loud laugh and smirking at Sanji.

“You don’t get it do you? He realised that I was with you and that you were, incredibly stupidly, willing to arm me. He was inviting me to come to him after I kill you, he’s probably expecting me to be on my way there now.” Zoro laughs. 

Sanji’s eyes widen in surprise, no wonder that old bastard had changed his mind so suddenly! Zoro kneels up suddenly and, with some consideration flicks the sword in his hand so that the blade is facing outwards, towards Sanji. Quickly he leans over and with his power and weight, throws Sanji to the ground and holds the blade above his throat. 

“I could kill you right now, lie to Franky – tell him that you were taking a nap, take your car and be at Koshiro’s before anyone even found your body. He could find some way to cut my collar off, if anyone could do it Koshiro could, and then I’d be a free man. And all because you were dumb enough to just give me my swords back.” Zoro smirks down at him. 

Sanji doesn’t even dare to swallow, he can feel Wado’s coldness radiating from the blade. Sanji lays silently for a moment and thinks. He can fight, that much is certain. But even he can’t kick Zoro off quicker than the other man can slice his jugular open. He is completely helpless. 

He considers his life, all in all he’s not been too bad. He’s tried to help others, he fed the hungry when they came to the doors of the Baratie and when his father took him back he invested a considerable amount of money in many different charitable funds. He tried to steer his father’s wretched company in a more ethical direction, not that anyone on the board ever listened to him beyond what they needed to mock him. But still, he has harmed Zoro, and if the other man is right about his plan then he can’t deny that Zoro would be better off with him dead. 

Still, he doesn’t want to die and he’s not going to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing him beg. So he looks up into Zoro’s dark, menacing and still somehow lovely eyes and repeats the same words that he said to Zoro’s sensei.

“Well, if you’re going to kill me get on with it, I don’t have all day.” He snaps. They’re pretty good last words in consideration. Zoro’s mouth splits open into an amused grin.

“Lucky for you I don’t kill innocent people, even if they are idiots.” Zoro says and leans back onto Sanji’s hips and sheathes his sword. He rolls off of Sanji and unsheathes another sword to admire it.

“Innocent?” Sanji says rolling the word around in his mouth.

“Yeah. You’ve not done anything to hurt me, I mean, you put this padlock on my neck but you’re not responsible for the collar. The bastards who run and own the institute are responsible for that, you’re innocent.” Zoro states, sheathing one sword and unsheathing another. 

“Innocent.” Sanji repeats staring up at the ceiling. 

“Unless you’ve done anything that I’m not aware of, yes.” Zoro says absently.

Oh, Sanji thinks, I really should tell him…

Zoro seems to take his silence for shock or mortal dread and speaks up again with a little concern in his voice. 

“I wasn’t actually going to cut your throat out you know.” Zoro points out, looking over the top of his blade at Sanji.

“Darling,” Sanji says flatly, “you say the sweetest things.” 

Zoro laughs at that and the sound is bright and warm enough that Sanji’s insides fizz. Still… he sighs and stares up at the ceiling a little more. 

“I’m hardly innocent. Not guilty maybe but…” he trails off.

“Join the club, you know what I meant.” The other man interrupts him and sheathes his last sword with a scrape of metal. 

“I meant it though, you were stupid to give me these. I could have done anything to you.” Zoro points out reproachfully. 

“Maybe I trust you.” Sanji retorts, and with that Zoro stands up, takes his swords with him and strides out of the room. 

What the hell? 

Sometimes Sanji just didn’t understand Zoro, the man was baffling. But he really did want to understand Zoro. Hell, he wanted to do lots of things to Zoro but his honour wasn’t going to let him. He was in hindsight rather irritated at Robin for getting someone as wonderful as Zoro for him, perhaps he should buy her a library and tell her not to read any books in it as revenge. No, that wasn’t right, for one Zoro wasn’t just a thing that could be bought – never mind what the law said. And for another he wasn’t one to be cruel to people, ladies especially. 

Why had Zoro gone though? It had all seemed to be going so well, the other man had seemed to be so pleased by his gift. He admits that he was just righting a wrong by giving it back to him but he had seemed pleased. And the threat, well, Sanji supposes that Zoro had been right, it had been quite a risk and he’d not even thought about it. He supposes that he just trusts Zoro implicitly. It was probably a bad idea to do so but he can’t seem to make himself want to do any different. 

His ears perk up though when he hears Zoro’s heavy footsteps approaching again. Zoro reappears in the doorway, this time his swords are hanging from something at his hip, a belt perhaps, Sanji can’t see. But in his hand is something brown, a file of some sort.

“You trusted me, perhaps stupidly, with your life when you gave me my swords back. So I suppose I should trust you with this.” Zoro says and throws the file so that it lands neatly on Sanji’s chest.

“It’s my file. I stole it from your office after you threw it out. You can read it, or not, I don’t care. But I took it from you and I shouldn’t have. It doesn’t say much you probably don’t already know, and it doesn’t tell you how to get into my head, Chopper doesn’t write like that. But… there are things in there… advice given… that I’d hate for you to follow. So… I guess that I’m trusting you to be you and not some bastard. It seems even.” Zoro states with a tense sigh.

“I’ll see you later.” Zoro adds and leaves. 

After a little while Sanji stubs out his still smouldering cigarette on the floor, sits up and looks down at the file in his hands. He’d not read it because he’d thought that it was cheating and he didn’t want Zoro to think that any progress that they made was because of some guide to him that he’d read. 

Sanji heaves a sigh and opens the file. Most of it is interesting if unremarkable, things to do with Zoro’s academic history, a note from Chopper warning him not to give Zoro any bladed instruments (hah!). But his blood freezes when he comes to the behaviour section. He’d thought that perhaps the section would be an in depth discussion of Zoro’s quirks but instead it was something much more sinister. The recommendations that this so called teacher was making were not only obscene but mind bogglingly immoral. If Sanji had done what this guy recommended he’d be a monster and Zoro would probably be irreparably broken, assuming that he wouldn’t have killed him at the first opportunity. 

Sanji snaps the report shut and deliberately unclenches his teeth from where his rage had cemented them together. This bastard is going to pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for reading, sorry this update was late but I’ve been both slowed down by being ill and getting halfway through the chapter in Zoro’s POV before realising that it needed to be re-written as Sanji. Zoro’s POV may as well have read “and now Zoro doesn’t do much because all the interesting stuff is happening to Sanji in this chapter”. Gah. So, straw poll, do people want me to stick with Sanji in this next chapter or so back to Zoro?


	8. Chapter 8

Sanji is standing in the shade by the big glass patio doors at the back of his house, it’s only just six am and he can’t help but wonder why Zoro is out here so early practicing with his swords. Perhaps, he thinks, the other man is making up for lost time. He doesn’t know if the other man has noticed him yet, or whether Zoro simply doesn’t care as he’s so engrossed in his practice. 

Zoro’s bare foot arches on the paving slabs outside and the man suddenly strikes forward, three vicious swords cutting a swathe through the air and no doubt killing and dismembering Zoro’s imaginary opponent. The strikes are quick and unhesitating and Sanji can’t help but be transfixed. Zoro practically dances back to his original spot, Sanji had never expected a man as well built as Zoro to be so light on his feet, it’s almost hypnotic. 

He sips at the coffee in his hand and continues watching the other man. He feels a strange combination of emotions where Zoro is concerned, the man seems to be almost a contradiction in terms. On the one hand Sanji feels protective of him, he wants to burn the people who have hurt Zoro but equally he’s well aware that Zoro can take care of himself and is far more resilient than some people might imagine. Equally Zoro frustrates him and aggravates him like no one else but also he finds himself desperate for the green head’s approval, he likes it when Zoro seems pleased with his food, his heart flutters when Zoro gives him a warm look. He just doesn’t know what to make of it.

He retreats away from the window and goes behind the kitchen units, he can still see Zoro from here but at least here it doesn’t look like he’s outright staring at the man. He taps his fingers on the kitchen surface in frustration and glances up at the window and Zoro just in time to see Zoro’s highly defined bare back arch with his swords above him in a way that immediately sends Sanji’s brain skittering in the direction of sex. His brain instantly helpfully supplies him with the mental image of Zoro’s back arching like that in pleasure. He shakes his head and tears his eyes away, hating himself a little. 

He’s already decided that he and Zoro can’t be like that, it was decided ever since Zoro pointed out that he can’t refuse Sanji within the very terms of their contract. So Sanji will never have any way of knowing whether or not Zoro is really consenting or just pretending to consent so that Sanji won’t return him. He’s fairly sure that Zoro wouldn’t lie to him, but equally Zoro is probably sure that Sanji has no intention of abusing his authority. If he was to move their relationship that way then all certainty fades away. He can’t stand that idea. So why won’t his mind stop going that way?

He rubs his forehead in stress and tries to focus. Maybe after Zoro has been with him for a while he’ll get used to the other man’s presence and stop noticing him so much, he’s only been with him about a week after all. Or maybe he just needs to get laid with someone who definitely isn’t Zoro.

“Morning.” Franky greets him as he walks into the room.

“Morning.” Sanji replies wearily. 

“You sound tired, are you not sleeping well little bro?” Franky asks in concern.

“It’s not that, I was just up late calling people last night.” Sanji answers, looking over at Zoro again. The swordsman has paused in his routine and seems to be trying to stretch his right leg out, from the way that he’s rubbing at one of his muscles Sanji would guess that something’s not warmed up properly yet. 

“Ever since you gave Zoro those swords two days ago you’ve been super busy, what’re you up to?” The cyborg asks him, shooting a suspicious look his way.

“Revenge, like all good dishes, takes time to prepare. But I should be more or less done now, I’m looking forward to watching the news this morning.” Sanji grins and watches as Zoro leaps up to balance on the back of a bench before whirling away in a swish of steel after his imaginary opponent. 

“He seems to be happy as a clam since he got those back, though I can’t say that I’ve ever seen someone fight with three swords like that.” Franky remarks with a laugh. 

Sanji grins to himself. He hadn’t either but then Zoro was never anything that anyone expected, he was so unique and interesting. He just wanted to… argh, no. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking like this!

“Franky.” Sanji says suddenly as the worry occurs to him, “Do you think that the institute could be right?” 

“You’re gonna need to give me a little more context to that question there, friend.” Franky says flatly. 

“I mean… the things that they claim. That they say that they can match you with someone perfect for you. Surely… surely that’s not really possible is it?” Sanji says, doubt creeping into his voice as he glances up at the cyborg who is one of his oldest friends.

“Aaah, you mean the two of you.” Franky grins and looks out at Zoro.

“It’s just that I promised myself that I wouldn’t do anything to make his life worse when he got here, I didn’t want him here in the first place so I thought that the least that I could do would be to not worsen his situation. I don’t want to take advantage of him. I’d hoped that he’d just be a friend or… or a housemate or something, and when I really needed to pretend like things were ‘normal’ for my father then I could but otherwise…” Sanji trails off in exasperation. 

“I don’t think you’re making his life worse. Zoro seems much happier than when he got here, you two seem to be getting along great.” Franky frowns at him.

“I know, and I want to keep it that way. I just want to be friends with him but sometimes I look at him or he says or does something and I want…” Sanji cuts himself short with a sigh. He doesn’t know what he wants. He doesn’t know if he’s just sexually attracted to Zoro or if he wants more than that. He’s not allowed himself enough time to think about it and examine his feelings because he’s spent so much time just shoving them away whenever they surface. 

“You want more.” The other man finishes for him. 

“Yes, no- I don’t know. Look, I just want to know if I keep thinking about this… thing with Zoro because I’m weak or whether it’s because they picked someone perfect for me.” Sanji angsts unhappily.

“It shouldn’t even be possible, should it? I mean, Chopper interviewed me and talked to me, he put me through a bunch of tests and watched me whilst I talked to other people but that was just one day. Surely you can’t just stick two people together after that and know it’ll work out?” He frowns.

“So… you don’t think that you and Zoro get along well?” Franky asks, sounding confused.

“I don’t know. We argue a lot but I like that, and Zoro seems to as well. Maybe we do work well together and we’re just really fucked up.” He groans despairingly.

“That’s probably a little more likely, knowing you.” The other man grins at him and looks out to Zoro.

“Thanks man.” Sanji says sarcastically.

“Any time. But say that he is perfect for you, why is that a bad thing?” The blue haired man asks then, turning back to him and giving him a quizzical look.

“Don’t you think that it’d be horrible? If Zoro is perfect for me I can’t do anything because I don’t want to be this creep that exploits people. Why can’t this just be normal? Why does the goddamn institute even exist?! I can find love on my own thank-you-very-much, I don’t need some stupid… evaluation process and immoral slavery thing getting in the way!” Sanji rants angrily and kicks a cupboard in his frustration. 

“Don’t you think?!” He challenges Franky. 

The older man looks at him for a moment and then over his shoulder towards the patio door that Zoro is advancing on with a big over the head stretch going on. Zoro opens the door with a tired but pleased sigh and Franky looks back at Sanji. The blonde pulls his eyes from where they’d automatically stuck to Zoro back and onto Franky.

“I think,” the cyborg says quietly, “that you’re over thinking this. Things are as difficult as you make them.” 

“What’s going on?” Zoro asks curiously, having just entered the conversation. His three swords hang heavily on his hip in a way that Sanji is sure would irritate the living hell out of him but somehow looks effortless and kinda cool on Zoro. Oh god, he feels like a fourteen year old with a crush ‘it looks so cool when he does it, waah, he’s so awesome!’ Seriously, what was up with him?

“Nothing.” Sanji lies with a scowl.

“What do you want anyway?” He challenges petulantly. 

Zoro quirks an eyebrow at him with that comment, it’s the kind of expression that shows he’s unimpressed with what Sanji is doing right now but will let it slide at the moment. It’s also one of those expressions that seems to imply that Sanji is a bit touched in the head, Zoro gives him those a lot and it irritates Sanji a lot too. 

“Breakfast, seeing as it’s sort of breakfast time and this is the kitchen. Is that okay Sir Prince?” Zoro asks with an elaborate flourishing bow that makes Franky laugh loudly. 

“That depends, marimo. Do you have an actual request for breakfast?” He asks sweetly and with a slight threat in his tone. 

“No, whatever you want. Do we have to play this game at every goddamn meal?” Zoro groans exasperatedly.

“Only until you pick something.” Sanji smirks at him.

“I don’t care, everything you make is nice.” The other man retorts. Sanji makes an angry frustrated noise in the back of his throat and stomps off to the fridge. He wrenches it open and glares at the contents of it, as if daring any of the eggs to challenge him.

“What the hell?!” Zoro calls after him, clearly just as irritated.

“I think,” Franky breaks in diplomatically, “that Sanji is a little upset that you said his cooking is nice. I know what you meant but nice is one of those words that… well, nice is a birthday card from your grandma. I don’t think that ‘nice’ is what Sanji is aiming for.” 

“Fine, then it’s all great, special, whatever.” Zoro huffs. 

“If it’s all special then none of it is!” Sanji shouts into the fridge and scowls even more angrily at some ham. 

Intellectually he knows why he’s angry. He’s angry with himself for feeling things about Zoro that he shouldn’t, he’s angry at the fact that the institute have put him is such a fucked up position that feeling like that about Zoro is wrong and he’s angry that Zoro won’t tell him what he wants to eat. He likes feeding people, and he likes pleasing people. Very few things outside of sex give him the satisfaction of making something that someone has a craving for and watching them just glow with pleasure from well prepared food. But Zoro won’t tell him what he wants which either means that he doesn’t want to let him into that part of himself – which is hurtful, or he doesn’t think that Sanji’s cooking is good enough so any of it will do – which is insulting. 

“Oh for- Sanji, get me that book that you’ve got up there on the shelf, the one that says “breakfast around the world”.” Franky orders him, pointing to the shelf. Sanji scowls at the man for ordering him around in his own kitchen, but allows it because everyone but Zoro is banned on this side of the counters. He stomps dramatically over to the bookshelf and snatches the title down, handing it to Franky with an angry flourish. 

“Now you, read this and pick something before we all starve. And you, go watch the news like you wanted to and cool off. Then, when you’ve picked something and you’re calm, we can eat.” Franky orders, whapping Zoro over the head with the thick book and pulling Sanji out of the kitchen by the collar of his shirt like a cat. 

“Now, shoo. I feel like I’m your babysitter.” Franky grumbles and herds them both out of the room with his hands and shuts the door behind them. 

Zoro and Sanji stand shoulder to shoulder with their backs against the door. Sanji unruffles his shirt whilst Zoro clutches the book to his chest.

“Well, that was kinda humiliating.” Zoro says after a moment.

“You’re telling me.” Sanji agrees and stalks off to his room with the TV in.

In truth the room is more of a little home cinema with a big plush sofa and chairs, the kind that are squishy enough to sort of eat you when you sit in them. The TV screen is huge and runs almost from floor to ceiling. Sanji flicks the news on and sits down, after a few moments Zoro spreads himself out on the sofa on his front and starts flipping through the book. 

Sanji watches the news and is surprised by how quickly he feels peaceful again with Zoro at his side, only the occasional page turning and the quiet of the TV is audible. Sanji sighs and settles a little deeper into the sofa. The newscaster is going on about some boring shit to do with the stock market, Sanji doesn’t care about that. He knows that lots of rich people do, rich people concerned with only becoming ever richer but Sanji is already richer than he wants to be and he’s not got his money so stupidly invested as to be affected by any one company going down.

“The stock price of the Royal institute has dropped today after a scandal broke with the papers this morning.” The newscaster continues in her pleasing voice. Now that makes Sanji’s eyes snap open and a grin curl on his lips. He notices that at his side Zoro’s head has jerked up and the green haired man is staring up at the screen in surprise.

“After a shocking new revelation about one of the lecturers at the institute’s questionable conduct the stock prices have dropped rapidly, although still remaining positive.” The newscaster continues.

“Yes Jenny, it was a rather surprising story. An investigative journalist Larsson broke the story this morning, it turns out that one particular behaviour lecturer Cabaji has been abusing his position of authority over mates-in-training. Confidential interviews with mates held in secret has confirmed that several instances of highly unethical behaviour have taken place.” The second, male, newscaster interjects.

Zoro sits up onto his knees at that, staring wide eyed at the television as footage of Cabaji dodging cameras plays on the screen.

“For those of us that don’t know, what exactly is a behaviour lecturer supposed to do?” Jenny asks interestedly.

“Well, a behaviour lecturer’s job is to provide mates-in-training with all of the information and behaviours expected of them in their service. Things like appropriate manners, bowing and of course… there is some sexual content to their training.” The second newscaster explains. 

“But that’s all supposed to be theory, right?” The female newscaster frowns cutely.

“Right, but it seems that Cabaji has been requiring demonstrations of his student’s knowledge, including some private extra curricular exams.” The second newscaster coughs uncomfortably. Sanji’s eyes slide interestedly to Zoro at that, he doesn’t know whether Cabaji actually tried anything on with Zoro or whether the man’s tastes just ran to his female students. If Zoro does tell him that Cabaji actually exploited him like that too, well, Sanji will just have to kill him. Zoro’s jaw is tensely clenched as he glares holes in the TV screen. 

At that point a man with ridiculous hair that Sanji knows is Foxy the silver fox the head of the institute comes on screen, it’s an excerpt of an interview.

“The Royal Institute values its students very highly and takes their role as mates very seriously. If any of these so called allegations are true then the institute will certainly investigate them. The mates-in-training here are like family to us and we hate to think of anything untoward happening to them.” He says sincerely.

“Like HELL you do! You locked me in solitary for two weeks when I broke Cabaji’s jaw for touching Nami! You lying bastard!” Zoro yells furiously at the screen, his fists clenched at his side. 

Sanji smiles a little to himself and mentally adds Foxy to his revenge list.

“It seems that his reports have had some highly worrying recommendations in too. We’ve had this one report shared with us, confidentially of course, this naturally occurs in the editorial as well and more information can be found on our website. Let’s hear what it says.” Jenny says. The two newscasters turn to the middle of the screen then and a piece of text pops up onto the screen, read out by another man. 

“[The mate’s] disobedient and feisty nature can, in my expert opinion, only be corrected by a firm hand a forced sexual submission. [The mate] will certainly require emotional reconditioning if he is to be of any use to any master, it is my recommendation that [the mate] be assigned to a master who would enjoy such as task. [The mate] does not fear physical pain so psychological reconditioning will be far more effective.” The narrator reads. 

“You…” Zoro gasps, looking over at Sanji, clearly recognising the words from his own report. 

“I hope that you don’t mind, the reporter assured me that he holds his sources confidentiality more highly than anything else. I just had to find a way to bring that bastard down.” Sanji answers. 

Zoro drops back onto the seat and stares at Sanji with wide eyes. In the background the reporters promise more breaking updates on the story as it unfolds. 

“How did you even do that?” Zoro asks after a moment or two.

“Easy. I have a few journalists that I like and aren’t corrupt, Larsson is the best out there, he’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to that kind of thing. I handed over my report and suggested a few people that he might want to contact to corroborate the story, your friend Vivi for one. I managed to get her and Igaram’s number, I have it if you want to talk to her any time.” Sanji offers, remembering that Vivi and Zoro seemed to be close, even if he was distressed when he saw her last.

“But… aren’t you worried that someone could trace the report back to you? Cabaji is going to know whose it is after all.” Zoro points out.

“Pft, when it comes to vengeance I’m fearless.” Sanji boasts. Inside however he’s cursing himself for not being smart enough to have thought of that and panicking somewhat that his father might find out. No, of course his father is going to find out, shit!

“You’re almost as bad a liar as Usopp.” Zoro smirks at him. 

Zoro glances back at the TV, although a different news story is showing right now, and looks thoughtful. He looks back at Sanji and opens his mouth as if to say something, the words don’t seem to come to him however and he averts his gaze to the book. 

“Zoro, I wanted to know something. About Cabaji… you said that he tried it on with Nami and Vivi told Larsson that he regularly took advantage of other people at the institute. Did-” Sanji starts asking but Zoro suddenly interrupts him.

“How about waffles, I’ve never eaten waffles.” Zoro interrupts loudly. Sanji is well aware that this is Zoro trying to distract him from having a conversation that they need to have, and the very fact that Zoro is trying to avoid the conversation speaks worrying volumes. But even so… who the hell hasn’t eaten waffles before?

“What? You’re serious?” Sanji gawps. 

“Never had them.” Zoro says hurriedly as he shoves the book into Sanji’s hands. 

“I will make you the best goddamn waffles in the world!” Sanji declares loudly, leaping from the couch. 

He and Zoro go about the morning then as if they aren’t both obviously avoiding a rather terrible conversation. Sanji does indeed make the best damn waffles ever and is pleased to see that Zoro actually does seem to enjoy the food and expresses a preference. Apparently Zoro isn’t too fond of sweet things and prefers his waffles without powdered sugar and syrup and instead just prefers fruit on them. Sanji files this away into his mental “useful information about Zoro” folder and continues on with his day. 

It’s only when they’re standing at the sink after breakfast washing and drying respectively that Zoro even brings it up again.

“You didn’t have to do that you know.” Zoro says quietly. 

“What?” Sanji frowns, thinking that he means handing Zoro a fresh dish towel.

“With Cabaji, you didn’t have to. You said that you wanted revenge but he didn’t do anything to you.” Zoro mumbles seemingly focused on drying the dish in his hand 

“He hurt someone that I care about, that’s reason enough for revenge.” Sanji points out earnestly, Zoro’s mouth twitches into a small smile at the end that’s gone so quickly that Sanji almost thinks he imagined it.

“It wasn’t all that bad, I skipped pretty much every class except exams since I was seventeen. And when I was younger he actually taught us useful shit, you know? We all had to participate in demonstrations about things like that. Like how to keep our cool when someone you hated but had to obey was irritating you, how to bow properly and when to fetch drinks, proper etiquette, all that stupid crap.” The other man explains with a sigh and rubs at a spot on the dish with the towel hard enough to make it squeak.

“And the other stuff?” Sanji asks gently. 

Zoro breathes out shakily and puts the dish down. He leans his hands on the countertop in silence and stares straight ahead without really looking at anything.

“The institute has to be able to certify that none of us have had sex, that means keeping a close eye on us, not letting us off of the grounds, regular medical checks and certain things in the curriculum just being theory.” Zoro explains in a flat voice. 

Sanji is halfway through a sigh of relief when Zoro speaks again.

“But there’s a lot that you can do to a person and still be able to say that they’ve never had sex.” Zoro finishes in a way that makes Sanji’s blood freeze.

“Zoro-” Sanji pleads, almost begging for Zoro to tell him that nothing happened.

“He tried to use me for a demonstration like that once, I broke his ribs. I got solitary for two weeks. End of.” Zoro snaps and grabs the next plate.

Sanji wants to ask what, exactly, Cabaji did to him or tried to. He wants to ask how far he got before Zoro snapped and fought back. Sanji wants to ask because he needs to know just how much he needs to hurt Cabaji for him. But he doesn’t want to know, he doesn’t want to think about something like that happening to Zoro. Zoro being the victim of anything just doesn’t sit well with him. 

Sanji plunges his hands back into the water and cleans another plate, he doesn’t want to push Zoro for information that he doesn’t want to give and it’s clearly something that Zoro doesn’t want to talk about. He’ll just have to assume the worst and treat Cabaji accordingly, after all, even if the man didn’t hurt Zoro he still hurt plenty of other innocent people. He will destroy him completely, along with the institute and everyone involved with it that won’t see sense and change the way that they operate. 

“There’s party tonight, I want to go, so I’ll need you to come with me. One of the members of institute’s board is there, I’m going to try to talk to him to get him to see sense. If I can get him to agree to change the way the contracts are written and put better protection in place for the mates then that’s a step in the right direction, after the news today he might be a little more willing to listen to me.” Sanji announces as he hands a plate to Zoro.

Zoro’s dark eyes watch him carefully for a few moments.

“You’re serious about this aren’t you? What are you going to do if he says no?” Zoro asks curiously.

“I’ll try another board member, I’d need to get more than 50% of the shareholders to agree anyway to get something changed, I’m just going to shoot for the board members that own a lot. And if none of them agree… well, I’ll just destroy the institute as a whole.” He answers simply, looking up at Zoro. 

“You’re crazy.” Zoro grins toothily at him in a way that plainly reads ‘I like it’.

 

Sanji adjusts his black tie over his burnt orange shirt. He steps back from the mirror and turns to take himself in from all angles. He looks acceptable, professional perhaps but in a casual kind of way. He doesn’t want to look like he’s shown up to a business meeting when he “bumps into” this guy, it’s supposed to be an accident, but he still wants to be taken seriously, not like some kid. 

There’s a knock on his door and when Sanji opens it it’s as if all his Christmases have come at once, in this case it’s Zoro wrapped up in a gorgeous green shirt and the softest sexiest waistcoat that Sanji has ever seen. Despite his tailor’s irritating opinions and insistence on sharing them the man makes DAMN fine suits. The whole thing flatters Zoro’s… everything. 

“Uh, yeah?” He manages, realising that he has to say something quickly. Unfortunately a quick response when all the blood in his body doesn’t know where it’s going isn’t a bright response. 

“I take it that I’ve got to leave my swords at home tonight?” Zoro asks flatly. Sanji beams at him because Zoro just referred to Sanji’s home as ‘home’ for the first time ever!

“Yes, sorry. You look great by the way.” Sanji smiles.

“Eh. Whatever, come find me when we have to leave.” Zoro shrugs and saunters off. 

Don’t look at his ass! Sanji reminds himself and turns sharply on his heel and shuts the door behind him so that he doesn’t get the chance. 

Sanji puts his shoes on and his wallet in his pocket, runs over his proposal to Nezumi in his head a few times before leaving his room. He pokes his head around Zoro’s door to see him sprawled deliciously across his bed with a copy of nineteen eighty four in his hands. He spies Sanji before he can say anything, drop the book and bounces off of the bed following Sanji out of the room.

The two of them walk out to the front of the house together in an agreeable silence. They get in the car with Franky, it’s the limo this time as Nezumi is a stickler for appearances. The flight to the mansion is a little longer this time, perhaps half an hour but Zoro happily chats to Franky about the news this morning. Both men seem to agree that it’s brilliant that the institute is in trouble but equally both express doubts that since Cabaji didn’t actually break the law he might not even lose his job. Sanji is certain that Cabaji will, he’ll ensure that much at least.

While the mechanic and the swordsman talk Sanji runs through his proposal in his mind once more. He’ll admit that he’s nervous, he already has a reputation with these guys as a bleeding heart and the last time that he tried to interfere with the institute he failed. 

“Later you two. Have a SUPERRR night!” Franky calls to the two of them, smashing his arms together through the sunroof and somehow driving the limo off anyway.

“You need to stop hiring from the lunatic asylum.” Zoro suggests after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“Good advice.” Sanji agrees and pulls Zoro inside. 

The atmosphere of the mansion is almost like that of a club rather than a refined house, most of the people there are young or young-ish, certainly nobody over 35 is there. People are dancing and the house is filled with smoke from cigarettes, cigars and dry ice from the smoke machines. Sanji snags a glass off of a passing waiter, the drink inside is gold and sparkling, just what Sanji wants to see. He downs it in one and hums in pleasure as it slides down his throat. He sees Zoro reaching for one and pulls the other man’s hand away.

“Trust me, Zoro. Don’t drink tonight. This stuff can mess with your system pretty nastily if you’ve not had any before, so just… don’t drink it. Don’t drink anything.” Sanji shouts in Zoro’s ear over the music.

“I can handle my drink cook, you’re the one who got drunk last time we were drinking, not me.” Zoro retorts.

“Yeah, cause champagne does things to me and you kept poisoning my father’s plants by throwing yours away when you thought no one was looking!” Sanji laughs back. Zoro looks at him in surprise which makes Sanji’s grin spread ever wider as the drink fizzes happily in his system.

“What, you thought I didn’t notice? I see more than you give me credit for mar~i~mo.” Sanji laughs, dragging out the syllables of his favourite nickname for Zoro in an almost sing-song way.

“Now, you stay here, be good, socialise, say nice things about me. And don’t drink! I’ve got a man to catch, or a mouse.” Sanji sniggers at his own joke and saunters off leaving Zoro behind. 

The golden drink is weaving its magic in Sanji’s system, making him feel happy and relaxed, exactly the mood that he needs to be in to find Nezumi. It doesn’t take him too much wandering through the throngs to bump into the man, perhaps about twenty minutes, he gets sidetracked to dance a few times which is fine, it looks more natural. When he does eventually find Nezumi he pretends like it’s an accident, as if he hadn’t come here just to find him. 

Nezumi is older than Sanji, thirty in fact. Sanji’s never liked him much but Sanji doesn’t like anyone on the institute’s board so that’s hardly surprising. Perhaps the man can change his mind tonight though. He’s got a distinctive almost rat like appearance and Sanji knows better by now than to comment on it, though it’s always hard to bite his tongue when the guy squeaks as he laughs.

“Sir Prince, what a surprise seeing you here. You almost never come to these things.” Nezumi says surprised.

“Ah well, I felt like relaxing, especially after seeing the news this morning.” Sanji shrugs casually with his hands in his pockets.

“You saw that too? Terrible for the stock prices, we’ll all be broke if things like that keep happening, let’s hope that it’s an isolated incident.” Nezumi agrees unhappily. Sanji nods along in agreement, the other man has always been unreasonably motivated by money.

As much as Sanji hates to draw a distinction, Nezumi is new money whilst his own family is old money. Nezumi is obsessed with being a rich as he can be whilst at least Sanji’s father isn’t too bothered, owning one of the most successful companies in the world and being one of the richest men is more of an ego boost than it is a means to buy things. When you have as much money as Sanji’s family does trying to acquire more of the sake of just getting more money is almost gauche, though apparently doing it to send a message or to strengthen the empire is just fine. Bizarre. 

“I wanted to talk to you about that actually, the whole board really but I was wondering if, since I so luckily happened to bump into you Nezumi, that I could run it by you first?” Sanji asks innocently. 

“This is unusual for you, wanting to talk shop with me about the institute.” Nezumi frowns suspiciously. 

“Ah, well. It was more of a business idea really, how to turn a loss into a profit and that, but if you’re not interested I’ll let you enjoy your night. Never mind.” Sanji says shaking his head and walking away. 

One, two, three. Sanji counts under his breath.

“Ah, wait! Sanji, come with me.” Nezumi calls after him. The other man catches him and pulls him into a quiet drawing room where they both sit down. 

“Tell me about your idea.” The other man says, sitting down on a fancy chair and gesturing to the one opposite for Sanji. Sanji hesitates for a moment before sitting down, as if he’s uncertain about whether or not he wants to tell Nezumi his plan, he wants Nezumi to feel like he’s doing all the chasing and not like Sanji’s trying to manipulate him. He feels a little disgusted at himself how easy this political manipulation has gotten to him over the years but he’s had to learn to survive, just like Zoro.

“Well, the institute is getting a lot of negative press at the moment, what with that behaviour guy. It’d be good for the institute to make a real stand to show that it was just that one bad apple, use the opportunity to make the institute look like a good thing, show outrage.” Sanji says slowly as he sits down.

“Obviously, but how? Foxy is already throwing up a smokescreen, and if there’s too much undeniable evidence we’ll have to let him go.” Nezumi shrugs. Sanji bristles a little inside at the fact that Nezumi only cares about how deniable the evidence is, not what the truth is, but thanks to the golden drink in his belly he can ignore it. 

“But that’s PR 101, it’s obvious and everyone knows it. To come out and make a bold statement would show a genuine side that really distinguishes him from the institute.” Sanji argues back.

“So what?” The other man frowns at him.

“Well, if I had my way the contracts would be changed. I looked mine over a few days ago and realised that my mate Zoro can’t do anything if he decides that he doesn’t like me, but I can return him. It hardly seems fair and it doesn’t inspire much confidence. I mean, I wouldn’t buy a car from a manufacturer that doesn’t let me return it if I change my mind.” He points out.

“Yeah, but this is different, your car can’t ask to be taken back if you’re a bad driver. You’re the consumer here, not your mate.” The rat-man argues.

“Not really, Zoro made a financial deal with the institute just like I did. The institute says that people like Zoro sign up to find love as well and do a good thing for the people that they care about, how can the institute say that the matches are perfect if mates aren’t allowed to leave?” Sanji insists. 

“That’s a stupid idea, they’d all be gone within a week. Sanji, look, I know you’re all newly mated and you think that you’re in love, but it’s just a phase. You’ll tire of… whatever his name was, in a few months, maybe even a year. He’s just a new toy is all, and if they could leave they would, no matter how much you think that they like you.” Nezumi says with a dismissive squeak.

“But… you do raise a good point, perhaps if we could make it look like they had the option of leaving we could say that it’s clearly a good service, that they obviously want to be there, that Cabaji was just a bad egg. Obviously we’d have to put some threat in place to stop them executing that right but still, that idea has legs.” Nezumi smiles deviously. 

“That’s not what I was saying at all! They should be free to leave!” Sanji snaps irritably before the golden drink in him soothes him.

“That’s just stupid Sanji, they’d all come back to the institute, we’d be drowning in sluts and not in a good way. No one would want to buy them again, no one wants a second hand sex toy Sanji, that’s just gross. I’ll see you around.” Nezumi laughs and squeaks, pats Sanji on the head condescendingly and saunters off.

Sanji grits his teeth and stays put. After he’s sure that he’s not going to chase after Nezumi and put his shiny shoe through the man’s face he gets up and goes off back towards where he left Zoro. His skin is tingling and humming with energy and the pounding music in the next room is making him want to dance his frustrations away. 

The lights and low and flashing in bright colours across a throng of dancing bodies and the music is already moving Sanji’s hips to the beat. He allows himself to enter the group and lose himself in the music. He’s in his own little world when a large warm hand snakes its way across his midsection. He jumps and looks over his shoulder only to relax when he sees the familiar shock of green hair and the golden padlock gleaming dimly in the low light.

“Zoro!” He exclaims feeling relieved.

“You left me alone for ages, and instead of coming to find me you dance?” Zoro quizzes in his ear. He doesn’t seem to upset though as he fits himself behind Sanji and follows his lead with the dancing, Sanji grins and revels in it. The man’s report was right, he’s a fantastic dancer!

“I had to!” Sanji laughs, the golden drink running in his blood. Zoro moves along with him in a way that’s getting Sanji more than a little hot under the collar so to speak. Zoro’s hand grips his hip and turns him slowly to face him. Zoro surges forward and kisses him, it’s hot and messy and sends sparks shooting through Sanji’s nervous system. His senses are already on high from the golden drink and Zoro set him on fire last time they kissed at a party, the two combined are deadly. 

Zoro backs him off of the dance floor and against a wall, no one comments as most of the guests are in similar states themselves or hoping to be. Zoro practically picks him up against the wall, groping his leg and his ass as he holds him there. Zoro kisses him again, intensely enough to make Sanji moan into it. However something inside of him starts to itch noticeably, this is more than unusual for Zoro. In fact it’s downright odd. He breaks away from Zoro’s mouth, the two of them already panting for air as it is. Sanji holds him there and glances around the room, wondering just who it is that Zoro has spotted that he’s putting this display on for. 

“Zoro, who have you seen?” He whispers into Zoro’s mouth and shudders with pleasure as the other man practically laps the words up from his mouth. Zoro doesn’t answer but just seems to purr almost before kissing along his jaw. 

Sanji’s itching sense of wrongness mounts. 

“Zoro, talk to me. Who are you doing this for?” Sanji hisses in the other man’s ear, perhaps he didn’t hear him.

“You, just you.” Zoro rumbles deeply in Sanji’s ear in a voice that’s pure sex and goes right to Sanji’s libido. 

That answer is all wrong though. Just for him? What?

He arches his back, grinding his hips into Zoro so that he can lean back and get a better look at Zoro. The other man’s eyes shut as he groans in pleasure. He can definitely feel just how excited Zoro is right now, Sanji can’t exactly deny being in a similar state himself, although not as far gone as Zoro is.

“Zoro… look at me.” He orders.

Zoro’s dark eyes sweep sensually half open, looking at him with undisguised lust. The lights flash white for a second or two but it’s long enough, Zoro’s eyes are crimson red.

“Holy shit! You’ve been drinking!” Sanji exclaims, pushing Zoro back away from him. 

“I told you I can handle my alcohol cook, I’m not drunk.” Zoro grouses and noses his way back against Sanji’s jaw.

Sanji spares a brief moment of weakness before shoving Zoro away from him, grabbing his hand and pulling him away through the crowd. He needs to assess the situation in private, he really doesn’t want to leave another party again early if he doesn’t have to as it’s bad form. Zoro starts complaining until Sanji drags him upstairs, at which point Zoro starts looking increasingly pleased. 

He tries the handle of one bedroom only to find it locked and sounds of sex coming inside. Sanji swears under his breath and pulls Zoro further down the corridor, after a few false starts he pulls Zoro inside one of the rooms and locks it behind them. As soon as he turns he realises that Zoro has backed him against the door with both his arms on either side of Sanji’s head.

In the normal lighting of the bedroom Sanji can see just how far gone Zoro is. He catches the other man’s face in his hand and looks closely at his eyes, not only have the irises gone completely crimson but the whites of Zoro’s eyes are taking on a rosy hue as well, this is not good. 

“Oh marimo, I told you not to drink, how difficult was that? I was gone like… forty minutes.” Sanji sighs. Zoro turns his head against the inside of Sanji’s wrist and bites the delicate skin there, making Sanji jump and shiver at the same time.

“And I told you cook, that I can handle my alcohol.” Zoro purrs, he follows the bite with a slow lick across Sanji’s skin. Against his better judgement a whimper escapes Sanji’s mouth.

“It’s not alcohol dumbass.” Sanji growls. He grabs Zoro’s hand and pulls him over to a mirror and makes him look at himself. Instead of looking at his alarming eyes though, Zoro seems far more interested in the image of Sanji behind him with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hip. He rolls himself back into Sanji, trying to rub every inch of their skin together. 

“Argh, stop that. Look, look at my eyes. See how they’ve gone slightly gold?” Sanji snaps, releasing Zoro’s shoulder and pointing to his own usually blue eyes which have now taken on a shiny golden hint.

“That’s because of the golden drink I had when we got here. It’s not alcohol, it’s a chemical that messes with your brain chemistry and your hormones, they all do different things. The golden one makes you feel happy and relaxed, kind of tingly too.” Sanji explains.

Unfortunately rather than being surprised by this revelation Zoro seems far more interested in what Sanji’s drink had done to him. He turns in Sanji’s arms and faces him instead of the mirror and curiously runs his fingertips down Sanji’s chest. Sanji can feel the drink inside of him making his skin sing at the touch. His head lolls back as he gasps at the sensation, Zoro presses a kiss to his jugular and draws a desperate whine from Sanji’s throat. 

“Oh wow… I could make you feel so good like this.” Zoro grins sensuously at him. 

Now that snaps Sanji back to his senses. He shoves Zoro and stumbles back away from him, this is a terrible idea and he’ll be lucky if Zoro won’t hate him already when this wears off in the morning, let alone if this goes any further. 

“C’mon.” Zoro smiles and steps back into Sanji’s personal space, snaking his arms around Sanji’s sides. 

“Zoro, stop it.” Sanji snaps, shoving Zoro’s hands away, but the other man just strokes Sanji’s back instead. For a second Sanji is struck with two panicky thoughts, first of all is that he’s alone with Zoro in a locked room, second of all is that Zoro is actually bigger than him and whilst he has the advantage of always being armed with his shoes when Zoro is without his swords Sanji isn’t sure whether or not he’d be able to get Zoro off of him. 

“Zoro, no!” Sanji orders, hearing his own distress clearly in his voice. He wonders if this is how Zoro felt the first night that he was with him when he came home drunk, he doesn’t really remember anything about that but now he’s certainly starting to empathise.

Zoro’s hands freeze at Sanji’s side and Zoro actually pulls back to give him a startled look. 

“Why?” Zoro asks clearly surprised.

“Because you’re way too far gone and you’d hate me in the morning, almost as much as I’d hate myself.” Sanji mutters bitterly, no way is he going to do this.

“I wouldn’t. Please let me.” Zoro whispers silkily, clearly having forgotten Sanji’s panic. He tries to step back closer to Sanji but he backs away just as quickly. 

“Zoro, tell me, how many drinks have you had? Try to remember.” He pleads with the other man, looking at his eyes, they seem somehow redder than before, shit.

“I don’t… please just let me touch you.” Zoro pleads, running a hand up Sanji’s side temptingly.

“Unless you can remember you’re definitely not getting anything from me, now think. I left you in the corridor after telling you not to drink, what did you do then?” Sanji says slowly, catching Zoro’s hands and holding them together. 

Zoro’s brow furrows and the man seems to think for a moment.

“I went to the bar to get a drink.” He starts.

“Great, I’m fairly sure I told you not to do that.” Sanji grumbles. 

“I can handle my booze! And you didn’t tell me that it wasn’t alcohol!” Zoro retorts. Sanji winces at that because it’s true, but Zoro really should have just done what he was told even without him having to give an explanation.

“I tried to order a drink, but they didn’t have anything that I asked for. After a little while the bartender gave me this red thing in a martini glass or something, he said someone had bought it for me.” Zoro frowns and stretches his fingers out to catch Sanji’s tie and tug on it.

“Did you see who it was?” Sanji questions suspiciously. 

“No, but I drank it anyway. It didn’t have any kick but it made me feel kind of warm, so I had another.” Zoro shrugs.

“Okay, that’s not too bad, it’s two drinks. You’ve never had them before so maybe they’ll wear off okay after a few hours, we just need to get you home.” He muses, although Zoro’s eyes are awfully red for just two drinks. But perhaps it’s because he drank them so quickly after one another. The drinks kind of stack with each other, one drink will affect you for two hours but each successive drink doubles the potency and the effect time. So if Zoro had two he’s up for a double strength affect for four hours, that’s… manageable. 

“Well… then I wanted to find you. All I could think about was finding you, I don’t… maybe it’s because you’re so nice looking.” Zoro smiles, clearly lost again. He leans into Sanji again and presses a lazy kiss to his cheek.

“You smell good, and look great in that shirt… or out of that shirt.” The other man rumbles in his ear.

“Focus, Zoro.” Sanji grits out.

“I was trying to find you, I really, really wanted to see you. Then I bumped into a waiter carrying drinks and got another red one from him, then some girl tried to dance with me but I wasn’t bothered, I wanted to find you, just you.” Zoro continues. 

Sanji’s eyes widen, three drinks. That’s eight hours and four times as strong as just one drink. Shit, shit, shit. This was NOT good!

“Then you found me dancing?” Sanji asks hopefully. Zoro by this point has plastered himself to Sanji again and is trying to back him against the mirror.

“One more drink then I found you… dancing. You look really good when you dance… your hips…” Zoro groans. Sanji ducks out from under his arm and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Zoro is going to be under the influence for sixteen hours and with eight times the strength Sanji is surprised that Zoro can even see straight and isn’t trying to have sex with the furniture. 

“Franky, it’s me. Get the hell up here now, we’re on the second floor, I’ll open the window. We need to get Zoro into the back of the limo now.” He orders sharply and hauls the window open. He snaps his phone shut and glances back at Zoro who is slinking his way over to him like some big jungle cat.

“Franky is pulling the limo up, we’re going home now okay? So just… wait.” Sanji pleads. He wants Zoro to deliberately infer that he’s taking him home for sex, that ought to keep him vaguely on board with the plan. 

Zoro saunters up behind Sanji and slides his hands onto his hips. Sanji knows that this is serious, Zoro is under the influence and it’s not him at all. That if anything turns Sanji completely off. But he’s not exactly clean from the drinks either, the gold drink inside of him keeps making him want to relax into the whole thing, to just go with it and the sensitivity makes Zoro’s hands feel like magic against his skin. 

Zoro is diligently trying to untuck Sanji’s shirt when the limo flies up in front of the window. Sanji lunges forward and pulls the door open. 

“After you!” He shouts. Zoro grins sexily at him before sliding out the window and into the limo. Cursing under his breath Sanji slams the door after Zoro and jumps for the front passenger door, it’s quite a leap but he makes it. He hauls the door open, lands in the seat next to Sanji and quickly presses the button the locks all of the doors. It’s none too soon either because Sanji can see in the rear view mirror that Zoro is already trying the door that he came in through. 

“How do you put the glass thing up?!” Sanji demands in a panic. Surprised Franky pushes a button, making the glass divider rise. Zoro’s eyes widen and he spots this and the green haired man hurls himself up the limo at the window, just hitting it as it shuts. 

Zoro opens his mouth and shouts something but Sanji can’t make out a word of it.

“It’s soundproof?” Sanji blinks in surprise.

“Sometimes you’re a little annoying to listen to. I can press this button and we can hear him if you like, what’s up with him anyway?” Franky frowns, gesturing at the button on the dash.

“No, no don’t!” Sanji pleads. 

“Holy- look at his eyes, just how much has he had to drink Sanji?!” Franky exclaims, turning in his seat to look at Zoro. Sanji looks as well, this time Zoro’s eyes are definitely redder. His irises are blood red and the whites of his eyes are completely pink with red lines cutting through them. 

“Too much. I left him unattended for like, half an hour and he went and did this to himself. I guess I didn’t warn him properly, but I told him not to drink. He drank four red drinks!” Sanji sighs and slides low in his seat so that he doesn’t have to see Zoro even in the rear-view.

“Shit.” Franky agrees and pulls away from the house. 

Sanji squeezes his eyes shut and thanks his lucky stars that he got to Zoro before anyone else managed to take advantage of the other man’s state. Zoro is going to be so angry in the morning, and rightfully so. He hardly shoved him away, even when he should have realised sooner that something was wrong. Guilt and shame washes over Sanji in a hot uncomfortable wave. He can’t hear what Zoro is saying, thank god, but he can hear the other man banging on the glass.

“I guess I shouldn’t ask how tonight went then?” Franky says after a few miles.

“Tonight was a mistake, Nezumi is never going to do the right thing and I’ve gone and screwed things up with Zoro. Hopefully he’ll still speak to me in the morning.” Sanji whines unhappily. 

“I’m sure once he calms down that it’ll all be fine.” Franky reassures him with a dubious glance in the mirror. 

Sanji huffs and turns the radio on as they drive in silence the rest of the way home and tries to think of a plan for what they’re going to do when they get Zoro out of the car. When they pull into the garage Sanji has formulated a plan. 

“Oh man, look at his eyes now.” Franky whistles. Sanji turns to look, Zoro is pressed up against the window staring at Sanji and saying something. His eyes are red from edge to edge with a blood red iris and a huge black pupil, he looks almost demonic. Which is good in a way for Sanji, it makes this easier.

“I’ll be right back.” Sanji says suddenly and leaps from the car. 

“What?! You can’t leave him in here!” Franky calls after him.

“I’ll be back, I’ve just got to get something!” Sanji shouts over his shoulder and sprints through the house. He skids into his room and rifles through his bedside cabinet until he finds them. With a triumphant ‘yes!’ he pulls the handcuffs free of the drawer and holds them up in the light. They’re proper ones with a real key and made of solid steel so even Zoro can’t break out of them.

He sprints back down to the garage to find Franky standing impatiently by the car, the car is rocking from side to side slightly and Sanji can see even through the tinted windows that Zoro is throwing himself at the door with all his might trying to escape. 

“Why… why do you have handcuffs? Actually, I’m not sure that I want to know.” Franky winces, spotting them in Sanji’s back pocket.

“I’ve known a few kinky ladies in my time, let’s leave it at that. I need to make sure that Zoro doesn’t hurt himself or me, do you have a better plan?” Sanji challenges the older man.

“I guess not.” Franky shrugs.

Sanji sighs and looks at Zoro through the tinted window, he can just see the outline of Zoro’s face staring up at him intently.

“Look… Zoro’s probably gonna be embarrassed and angry enough at this when it wears off without having an audience. Maybe you should go.” He says, looking over at the other man.

“No way, with him like that who knows what he’ll do to you if he gets the chance! I’m staying right here!” Franky says shaking his head sternly. 

Sanji looks back down at Zoro. The other man doesn’t seem dangerous, just… worryingly enthusiastic. Zoro did stop as soon as Sanji firmly said no before, but who knows how much further gone Zoro is now? Would Zoro try to force himself on Sanji? Some voice in Sanji says that no, he wouldn’t. Zoro has spent too much of his life being forced to do things by other people to do that to someone else, he’s damn near certain that Zoro won’t hurt him. 

“I think he’ll be fine. Just… stay within shouting distance okay? If there’s a problem, I’ll yell.” Sanji instructs. Franky looks at him dubiously but nods. 

“I won’t be far.” Franky adds as he leaves the room. 

Sanji lets out a small calming breath and leans into the front of the still switched on car, he presses the button to lower the windows slightly. 

“Sanji! Sanji please let me out, please! I need you!” Zoro shouts through the gap. 

Oh boy. 

“Zoro, listen to me. I’m going to let you out but you’ve got to be good okay?” Sanji says as he leans over to the window.

“I’ll be good, I’ll be so good.” Zoro begs, reaching out with his hand through the gap. 

“Okay, right. We’re going to your room, but you’ve got to behave yourself on the way there. Keep your hands to yourself or else I’ll lock you in there and leave you in there all night on your own.” He warns. Zoro’s eyes sharpen at that, he clearly doesn’t like that idea.

“And if I’m good?” Zoro questions, peering up at Sanji with his incredibly red eyes. 

“If you’re good… I’ll stay in there with you all night.” He smiles at Zoro. Now that seems to be an idea that Zoro can get behind. Almost as an offering of peace Zoro pulls his hands back.

Biting his lip warily Sanji opens the door to the car and Zoro steps out, almost calmly in fact. Zoro quickly clears the two steps between them though and kisses Sanji hard enough to leave him breathless.

“Hey!” Sanji snaps, stepping backwards.

“I kept my hands to myself.” Zoro grins, gesturing with a jerk of his head to his hands behind his back. 

“Smartass, you go first, come on.” He insists and steers Zoro out of the garage. 

Zoro drops his hands to his sides now and walks ahead of Sanji. The way that his hips move is hypnotic and entirely screams sex, no doubt deliberately. It would probably help Sanji’s case if he wasn’t staring at Zoro’s ass. He pulls his eyes up to see Zoro smirking over his shoulder at Sanji.

“Shut up.” He mutters, turning red and shoving Zoro in the right direction as he nearly makes a wrong turn. 

Zoro slinks into his room with Sanji close behind him. Zoro turns and smirks sexily at Sanji and very deliberately starts unbuttoning that sexy waistcoat that Sanji was admiring on him so much earlier. 

“Hey, stop that.” Sanji protests, trying to ignore his libido’s whining.

“What, would you rather do it?” Zoro offers, stepping closely to Sanji and outright offering himself up to him.

“No.” Sanji says swallowing thickly and shoving down his real response of oh god, yes please!

“Well then.” Zoro shrugs stepping back and shedding the waistcoat in a smooth motion. As Zoro unbuttons his shirt Sanji’s mouth goes dry, he whines in protest and bites his lip.

“What’s your problem curlicue? I’m keeping my hands to myself aren’t I?” Zoro says smugly and runs his hands down his now bare chest. Good god, it should be a crime for anyone to have that much bronzed muscle on show, it’s going to drive Sanji crazy.

“Take your shoes off and get on the bed.” Sanji manages when he finds his voice again. 

“Certainly.” Zoro purrs and does just what he’s told. Sanji squeezes his eyes shut and reminds himself that he’s a good person, no matter what it feels like right now. 

“Turn over.” He orders and steps towards the head of the bed. Zoro does so with an interested look in Sanji’s direction. He arches his back temptingly and Sanji has a flash back to watching Zoro this morning, it’s as if his fantasy is becoming reality in a way that he really doesn’t want. 

Sanji pulls the handcuffs from his back pocket and pops them open with the key. Zoro raises a surprised eyebrow at that and pushes himself up on his elbows to watch Sanji curiously.

“Humour me, please?” Sanji pleads, holding out his hand. After a second and a sly smirk from Zoro the other man hands his wrist over. Sanji clips the first handcuff over and locks it, leaving room for movement but not much. Zoro shimmies closer to one of the four bedposts giving Sanji the opportunity to wrap the chain between the cuffs around the post and cuff Zoro’s other hand.

“How’s that? Not too tight?” Sanji asks with concern. 

“It’s fine, what do you have in mind?” Zoro asks curiously but clearly interested. 

“Now… now I’m going to sit over there and wait until you sober up.” Sanji answers, stepping quickly away from Zoro and throwing himself into the chair by the window. 

“What?!” Zoro yells. Sanji settles himself into the chair, he’s not going to leave Zoro alone. What if the man gets sick or hurts himself cuffed up like that? No, he was (mostly) responsible for getting Zoro into this mess, he had a responsibility to stay with Zoro through this. 

“Oh come on!” Zoro shouts, struggling against the handcuffs. But the bed and cuffs are both solid and Zoro can’t move enough to get enough strength to break it

“Look,” Zoro says relaxing and trying a different tactic, “I know that you’re concerned that I’m not myself, and that’s very sweet. It’s one of the reasons that I like you, but you can’t just leave me here. So… come over here and fuck me.” Zoro says silkily, but the red eyes that he’s looking at Sanji with solidify his resolve to stay right where he is. 

Zoro seems to sense that’s not working and tries again.

“Or, I could fuck you if you’d prefer. I’m very good, Ace always seemed to think so anyway. Come on Sanji, get over here.” Zoro pleads. 

Sanji’s eyes widen at that. Zoro’s slept with someone before? He- wait, no. It wasn’t any of Sanji’s goddamn business who Zoro has slept with, despite the paperwork he doesn’t own the other man or his past. 

“No.” Sanji answers and settles further into his chair prepared for a long night. 

He tries to tune Zoro out as the other man begs for him, as he pleads and offers things that Sanji hadn’t even heard of before. He ignores Zoro as he goes from threatening to hurt himself if Sanji doesn’t come over (he puts a stop to that when he threatens to gag Zoro so that he can’t bite himself), he pleads, he tries to bribe Sanji and he even tries to trick him once. Eventually Zoro works out that wriggling around on the mattress isn’t going to do anything to solve his problem either. Whilst the red drink messes around with your sex drive and hormones it also makes it damn near impossible to get off by yourself, the whole idea of it was to be used with a partner. 

Sanji settles into a restless half sleep, waking up every few hours to check on Zoro who is now pitifully whining to himself whenever he’s awake.


	9. Chapter 9

Zoro wakes up slowly with a slightly dizzy feeling in his head. His forehead is pressed against his bicep with his arms stretched out uncomfortably above his head. With a groan he reaches to rub his forehead but is stopped by a sharp jerk on his wrist and a pained feeling spreading from his hand to his shoulder. 

“Ow.” He winces. He opens his eyes and panic rises when he spots the handcuff around his wrist. He recoils in horror only to be brought up short by the cuffs again. They’re wrapped around the post of his bed and, he realises in terror, he’s shirtless. He’s very close to hyperventilating with panic. He runs his attention over the rest of his body, nothing hurts anywhere that it shouldn’t do which relieves him a little. He has no idea how he got here and all he wants is to be free of his confines.

Forcing himself to remain calm he looks around his room, Sanji is sprawled in the chair by the balcony window, his back sunk lowly into one chair and his socked feet up on the other. He’s blinking slowly into wakefulness.

“Oi! What the hell?!” Zoro shouts at him, startling the other man out of his chair and onto the floor with an undignified thump.

“Zoro!” Sanji gasps from his knees as if he’s the one surprised here. He’s not the one that’s woken up chained up goddamnit! 

The blonde scurries over to him on his knees and peers at him worriedly.

“How… how do you feel?” Sanji asks him, looking intently at him.

“Well, my shoulders and wrists are KILLING me, just like I’ll kill you if you don’t LET ME OUT OF THESE!” Zoro shouts angrily rattling the handcuffs for emphasis.

“Right! Right, sorry!” the blonde squeaks and digs into his pocket to pull the key out. He unlocks the left handcuff first and as soon as Zoro is able he snatches his hand back only to be punished by the protest from his shoulder. He hisses in pain and doesn’t miss the worried look that Sanji gives him.

“Do you remember anything?” Sanji asks him as he releases his right hand.

“No! I-” Zoro snaps but as he says it something comes back to him. 

A flash of a red drink in a martini glass, he sniffs it to find that it smells vaguely like hot apples and cinnamon.

“What-?” he starts with a frown.

“From the gentleman down there.” The bartender answers, gesturing down the bar before sidestepping away to serve another customer. Zoro stretches his neck and glances down the bar, he can’t spot anyone familiar and no one is looking at him. He shrugs and downs the drink in two large gulps. 

It’s strange that there’s no alcoholic tang, even in weak drinks Zoro can usually taste the booze. It’s warming though, almost alarmingly so. His skin warms and flushes all over but it’s kind of nice actually. 

“Hey, another.” He calls to the barman, holding up the empty glass. The barman nods and fetches another.

Zoro frowns. He can’t have been drunk though, he never got drunk, not without deliberately trying anyway. Another memory flashes back to him.

“It's not alcohol, it's a chemical that messes with your brain chemistry and your hormones.” Sanji shouts at him.

He doesn’t feel surprised or worried, instead he’s far more concerned with how he feels against Sanji’s body. He turns in Sanji’s arms feeling just how warm he is and how lean. He trails his hand up Sanji’s chest and revels in the pleased sound that the action rips unwilling from the blonde’s throat.

“The… the drinks.” Zoro murmurs. The drinks were strange, the red one that he was drinking seemed to turn his sex drive up to eleven. 

“Yeah, the drinks. Do you remember getting back here?” Sanji asks, crouched on the floor by his bed. The memory comes back to him as soon as Sanji prompts it.

He unbuttons his own waistcoat, desperate to get naked and desperate to get Sanji naked too.   
"Hey, stop that." Sanji protests, reaching for him a little and pulling his hand back as if he hadn’t realized that he had started it. He feels smug, for some reason Sanji is trying to resist him, to fight what he clearly wants, what they both want. Zoro is going to make Sanji break no matter what.  
"What, would you rather do it?" He offers, stepping closer to Sanji. He wants Sanji to undress him, he can see that the cook wants to as well, his cheeks are flushed and his eyes are huge with lust.   
"No." Sanji says swallowing, Zoro follows the path of his adam’s apple, he wants to lick at it. But perhaps if he just takes his clothes off Sanji might give into temptation and actually touch him before he dies of frustration or old age!  
"Well then." Zoro shrugs casually stepping back and shedding the waistcoat in a smooth motion. Zoro unbuttons his shirt quickly, popping the buttons and grinning at the way Sanji is gawping at him.  
"What's your problem curlicue? I'm keeping my hands to myself aren't I?" Zoro says cheekily and runs his hands down his now bare chest. Even his own hands are delighting his senses, but he doesn’t want his hands, he wants Sanji’s. The blonde makes a pained noise. Hell, all he wants is to get Sanji into bed with him, why is he making it so difficult for him?!   
“Oh god…” Zoro cringes, burying his head in the bed.  
“That’d be a yes then. I’m so sorry Zoro, I didn’t want to cuff you but… well… I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry!” Sanji wails unhappily.   
“It’s… it’s fine. Thank you.” Zoro sighs feeling humiliated.   
He feels himself flush in embarrassment, how humiliating, he has always prided himself on his self control. For the most part he keeps his anger in check, although admittedly that is his weakest area. But his other emotions have always been easily contained, which isn’t to say that he’s repressed, just that he doesn’t let himself get carried away. Last night, the things that he begged for Sanji to do to him, the things that he offered, that was far more than just carried away. Whatever was in that drink must have made him lose all self control entirely.   
He looks down at Sanji, crouched by the bed. His eyes track down to the blonde’s mouth. Sanji is nervously worrying at his bottom lip between his teeth, he stops and the shining pink lip slowly escapes from between Sanji’s white teeth. Zoro feels his heart rate kick up and he suppresses the whine in his throat at Sanji’s gorgeous mouth so close to him. 

“My eyes are still red aren’t they?” Zoro groans and drops his head onto the mattress again. He shifts his weight and realises that he’s still rock hard inside his underwear. He must still be under the effects of the drink, he has to be if he’s thinking things like that about Sanji!

“A little, it’ll probably wear off completely in an hour or two. How do your shoulders feel? Can you move them?” Sanji asks, standing up next to him and stretching the kinks out of his own back, it looks like he slept in those chairs. As the other man stretches his burnt orange shirt rides up, showing lean abs and a gorgeous chiselled V of muscle that dives into his trousers. Zoro isn’t sure if Sanji is teasing him or if his brain is still just running on sex but he wants to reach out and touch, the pain in his shoulders be damned! 

Nevertheless he focuses on what he should be doing and thinking, shoving aside thoughts of Sanji and his tempting midsection. Instead he tries to pull himself up onto his elbows, but the movement causes both shoulders to crack loudly and painfully as the joints move for the first time in almost twelve hours if the bedside clock is telling the truth. He yelps in pain and drops back down onto the bed with his elbows at his sides.

“God, Zoro, are you okay?” Sanji asks worriedly. The blonde’s delicate hands touch his shoulder, sending waves of heat rippling down through Zoro’s body. He whines because his shoulders do hurt terribly but also because his body is overexcited at the fact that Sanji is actually touching him!

“Good god Zoro, it feels like you’ve got rocks in your shoulders!” the other man exclaims. Sanji tightens his fingers over one of Zoro’s trapezoid muscles, the whole thing tightens and spasms up incredibly painfully. 

“OW!” He snaps at the other man. Sanji ignores him though and rubs a little more, suddenly and somewhat painfully the muscle relaxes. 

“That’s… actually a little better.” He manages with a wince. 

“I can fix the rest for you if you like, I should make it better, it’s my fault that you’re in pain in the first place. If… if that’s not completely inappropriate of course, no, what am I thinking, of course it is. I’ll just… god.” Sanji says nervously. Zoro looks up and Sanji immediately looks away, his expression tortured and almost self-loathing.

Zoro considers Sanji’s offer, it’s probably unwise to let the cook touch him right now with how overexcited he is but, well, he’s never had muscle pain quite this bad before and he’d rather not spend the next week walking around like a robot.

“If it means that I can move my arms again then go for it.” Zoro says cautiously. 

The blonde looks surprised but, perhaps in his eagerness to make amends he hesitantly crawls into the centre of the bed to Zoro’s left and repeats the process with Zoro’s left trapezoid muscle. It hurts enough to make Zoro grit his teeth in pain but not so much as to make him actually cry out this time since he’s not been caught by surprise. Sanji is proving successful though as each muscle he works on eventually relaxes enough to make Zoro believe that he may be able to use them again today.

“I can’t… I can’t apologise enough for last night. The way I behaved was completely unacceptable and if you want me to just leave you alone forever I’d understand. I should have warned you properly, I’m so sorry.” Sanji apologises as his hands make their way onto the next muscle on Zoro’s left hand side. 

“You warned me, I just didn’t listen. And I probably shouldn’t accept drinks from total strangers.” Zoro admits, his voice muffled somewhat through the mattress that he’s face down on with his pride stinging as much as his shoulders. 

“Hey, that’s not fair. You should be able to drink on your own without worrying that some asshole is going to try to drug you, it’s his fault not yours.” Sanji disagrees loudly. Zoro reddens at that, Sanji seems so quick to defend him lately, it’s almost… sweet. What… wait. Did he just think that?

“Did… did you see who bought you the drink by any chance?” the cook asks his voice curious but also angry. Sanji moves onto Zoro’s right shoulder with care, unaware of the mental confusion that he’s just interrupted.

“No, but I did see your uncle at the party, maybe it was him? But I could be wrong, I got the feeling that he only likes women, I know I’ve only really met him the once but, well. So I can’t think of any reason why he’d want me to get all- ow.” Zoro stops, Sanji has paused and is gripping Zoro’s sore shoulder almost painfully.

“Sorry, sorry.” Sanji apologises quickly and rubs it better. 

“You think it was him?” Zoro asks, glancing up at Sanji. The cook frowns angrily, his pretty mouth turning down into a scowl.

“I have reason to. He and my father want me to be like them, I can hardly protest how they and the institute treat mates if I’m exploiting you can I?” the other man sighs unhappily and presses hard enough on a stubborn muscle to earn a hiss out of Zoro.

“My guess would be that either they hoped I wouldn’t notice that you’d been drinking or that you’d convince me not to care.” Sanji grumbles. Zoro doesn’t really know what to say to that so instead he just keeps quiet and instead focuses on his muscles.

Sanji continues on in silence, pushing the pain out of Zoro’s muscles and leaving behind only warmth. They still ache but almost in a good way. He can’t help but feel his cheeks growing warm at the attention that the blonde is giving him and whatever chemicals were in those drinks are still rushing through his veins, making Sanji’s innocent attempt to help him feel absolutely fantastic. 

He drops his head down to hide his reddening face, but that seems to just entice Sanji’s hands up the back of his neck. Zoro bites his lip hard to keep the moan inside of him from coming out. He really really shouldn’t be getting turned on so much by this. Although, hell, he was hard before Sanji even touched him. 

Sanji’s hands move to his shoulder blades and thankfully the man seems to interpret the whine that escapes him as pain and focuses his attention on the muscles there. The guy’s just trying to help him out and instead he’s getting off on it! This is wrong, he should really… really… say… something… but it feels so good!

“I didn’t think that cuffing you would cause this much pain. Although, with the way you were struggling to get out of them all night I suppose that you’re lucky not to have dislocated something.” Sanji tuts, sliding his thumb up Zoro’s shoulder blade and trailing a ripple of heat behind him.

Sanji digs his knuckles into Zoro’s shoulder, working on a particularly tight knot. Zoro is bothered enough now though that he can’t even tell the difference between Sanji doing something painful to his muscles and Sanji doing something pleasurable to his muscles, both are sending the same signals right to his groin.

He breathes out shakily and pushes himself up on his elbows ever so slightly to tangle his hands in his hair. He needs to get a grip on himself, where’s his goddamn self control? Sanji’s just rubbing his shoulders not his dick. 

“Sanji, you-” Zoro tries abortively as he recognises the heat building low in his belly. He has to cut off what he’s saying though or else he’s not going to be able to keep his voice under control. 

“Sorry, was that sore there? Is that better?” Sanji offers innocently and adjusts his hand. A stab of pain/pleasure shoots through him at that and Zoro realises with mounting horror that there’s no going back at this point. 

Sanji’s dexterous hands run along the sweat slicked skin of Zoro’s shoulders and if the other man notices his trembling he doesn’t say anything. He’s been desperate for Sanji to give him release ever since he downed his first drink, he had begged and pleaded for Sanji to touch him, to do anything. But even he hadn’t thought that it would take so little attention from the cook to do this to him!

He bites his lip hard to keep the moan in, it’s stupid but he’s so so close to actually coming, he just needs-

Sanji shifts on the bed ever so slightly to reach the far edge of his shoulder, but that movement is just enough to move the bed under Zoro’s hips and give him the slightest bit of friction that he needs and he’s gone. His back arches and although he manages to clap his hand over his mouth as soon as he’s able there’s no mistaking the sound that he just made, the slight twitching of his hips isn’t very subtle either. He’s shaking under Sanji’s frozen touch and the other man seems to realise in one big shock just what’s happened and yanks his hands away as if burned.

“Did you just- did I just make you- oh god!” Sanji squeaks, scrambling to get away from him. His panic jolts the bed enough that Zoro is forced to shoot his hand out and grab the other man to hold him still. He allows himself to shudder the last few waves of his climax out before he looks up at Sanji, well aware that his face must be scarlet. 

The blonde is pinned to the bed by his arm that’s presently held in Zoro’s tight grip. His eyes are huge with shock and the poor guy looks completely mortified, Zoro isn’t sure which of them is most hoping for the earth to open up and swallow them whole, him or Sanji. 

“I’m so sorry Zoro! I- I had no idea! I really didn’t mean to- please forgive me!” Sanji apologises profusely.

“It’s fine, I should be the one apologising. You were just trying to help me out you didn’t mean to… well. I should have said something earlier, I just didn’t realise just how affected I still was.” Zoro says reddening further in embarrassment. Now that his body is coming down from its release he’s feeling uncomfortably oversensitive and… sticky, not to mention embarrassed. 

“And my shoulders do feel better.” He laughs weakly, and it’s true, with all the pleasurable chemicals coursing through his system post-release everything has relaxed considerably. Sanji actually laughs slightly at that and the awkward tension drops enough for Zoro to feel like he can breathe. 

“I’m… I’m going to have a shower. Would you stay here? I still want to talk to you I just… you know.” Zoro fumbles as he sits up quickly and turns his back on Sanji, not wanting to expose the fact that he’s still half hard.

“Of course.” Sanji agrees quietly. 

With a nod and not daring to look back Zoro strides off to the bathroom and shuts the door quickly behind him. 

Once safely inside he slides down the door with his hand over his mouth in mortification. How could he just let himself react so strongly to Sanji’s touch? Even now his body is shuddering just at the thought of it! 

He shakes his head and drags a hand through his hair. It was just the drink, that’s all. It messed with his system and he hadn’t expected it, nothing more. It was just… biology. He forces himself to his feet and quickly divests himself of what remains of his clothing including his incredibly sticky underwear. He turns the shower on hot and high pressured and stands under it, letting the water wash him clean. 

His lapse in control was embarrassing, there were no two ways about that. Both from the things he’d said and done last night to how he’d reacted and lost control moments ago. Sanji seems like he feels just as uncomfortable with it as he does.

He soaps his skin up and thinks. Sanji had really done him a favour, and no, he didn’t mean just now. Last night he’d kept him safe and away from other people, he’d not let him do too much that he’d regret. He’d kissed the other man plenty and rather shamefully groped him but that wasn’t too much more than he’d already consented to when they were both sober. 

His soapy hand stills on his chest as he thinks. Sanji had been given every opportunity by him last night, he’d begged the other man to go to bed with him, offered him anything he could want and more and Sanji had still refused. Sanji had told him repeatedly in the night that Zoro didn’t mean any of the things that he was saying and no matter what he offered, begged or bargained with he wouldn’t budge. Sanji… respected him. 

The fact that Sanji was as honest as he was shouldn’t please Zoro as much as it did but… well… if anything showed that Sanji could be trusted that was it. He blushes at the fleeting thought that he’s not sure he’d mind making such offers again in a sober state. He shakes the thought out of his head and gets to angrily shampooing his hair, it was pathetic to be attracted to someone just because they weren’t a scumbag. 

But, was that really it? Were his feelings of attraction of the blonde so easily dismissed as just “he’s not a bastard”? If he didn’t have this awful collar around his neck and Sanji didn’t have a key around his would he really be feeling so different? If he’d met Sanji when out drinking with the D brothers would he really be so disinterested? If there was no power dynamics or ownership would he actually ignore the blonde?

Zoro’s never been especially good at lying to himself, he’s not great at lying to other people either, but he always tries to be honest with himself at least. So reluctantly he has to admit that if the sarcastic, smart-mouthed, argumentative, attractive and above all honest Sanji had stomped into his life in any other way with those shiny black shoes of his then he’d be interested. In any other situation if he’d have got to know Sanji as well as he did now he’d probably have asked the blonde to bed already. 

He sighs to himself and rinses himself off under the shower. He’d like to think that all of this was just speculation caused by the red drinks that he’s had but even he knows that isn’t the case. The temptation to go out there and pull Sanji into the shower with him, that probably is the drinks, but thinking that the blonde is an all around okay guy who happens to be pretty damn hot… not so much. 

He dries himself off and grumbles into the towel, of all the people that he had to pick to find attractive it just had to be Sanji didn’t it? Why couldn’t he just be in this nice peaceful platonic relationship with the blonde and be attracted to someone else? He could have liked Usopp (even though Usopp barely looked old enough to shave although he was) or Franky (who felt so much like an older brother that the thought was icky), or he could have even continued his on again off again fling with Ace. But nooo, that’d be simple, he had to like Sanji didn’t he? He could practically hear Nami belittling him for being a moron from beyond the grave, Kuina would probably be joining in that chorus of mocking too. Good god, all the women in his life were dead and still they were nagging him!

He huffs, wraps the towel around his waist and peers at his eyes in the bathroom mirror. There’s just a hint of red in his irises now, they’re almost back to their usual golden brown colour. He steps out of the door and instantly laughs at the surprised squeak that escapes from Sanji who rapidly whirls around to face in the other direction as if scandalised by his very presence. 

Zoro looks down, it’s not like he’s obviously hard or anything and the towel that he’s wearing is covering everything that it should. In fact he’s about as clothed as he was five minutes ago. Perhaps the blonde is just hyper-aware of the fact that he’s naked under the towel.

“Wow, sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities cook.” Zoro snorts, never wanting to miss an opportunity to agitate Sanji. 

“I’m not delicate!” Sanji snaps, the tips of his ears going pink through his hair. 

Zoro chuckles and saunters into his wardrobe, pulls some casual clothes off of their hangers and dresses quickly. He likes the fact that despite how completely not normal today and last night have been he and the cook are falling back into their usual roles. He had worried that perhaps things might change, if their positions had been reversed Zoro might have had a hard time looking at Sanji the same way again in the morning. But perhaps their unusual relationship was stronger than it seemed. 

Shoving his musing aside he re-emerges from the walk in wardrobe and back into his bedroom. Sanji is standing awkwardly by the bed now as if he doesn’t know where to put himself. He can’t help but notice that the handcuffs that were on the bed are gone too.

Zoro sighs and scrubs a hand through his still damp hair, he should get this out of the way. Sanji starts to speak as well but Zoro talks over him, he needs to get this off of his chest.

“I wanted to apologise, and I don’t do this a lot so it’s just gonna be the once.” He sighs, Sanji looks at him in surprise.

“I’m… sorry. I should have listened to you rather than assume that you were just insulting my ability to drink. And I probably should have realised sooner that those drinks weren’t quite what I thought. I’m sorry for all of the things that I said, that was… inappropriate.” Zoro apologises. He looks down at his wrists and can’t help but notice the dark bruising from the handcuffs that’s already starting to come to the surface, those are going to be some nasty bruises. 

“Most of all…” He says with regret, staring down at his wrists, “I’m sorry that I got into such a state that you felt that you had to handcuff me. I don’t… I don’t know whether it was something I said or just how I was acting but- I’m sorry. It’s awful really, I’ve spent so much of my life afraid that whoever owned me was going to force me and threaten me into bed and it ends up being you that has to escape from me.” He laughs bitterly as the wave of disgust at himself overwhelms him.

“What? Zoro, no.” Sanji breathes softly. Suddenly pale hands are at his wrists, rubbing soothingly along the bruises.

“I wasn’t scared of you, not at all. I know you, and despite how… enthusiastic and willing you seemed to be last night, you were still you. You stopped the one time that I actually got concerned, although it didn’t stop you trying to convince me.” Sanji explains gently. Zoro’s head snaps up and he looks at Sanji in surprise, the blonde seems honest.

“I chained you up because I didn’t want you hurting yourself. And… I had to admit that I was worried that if I let you just continue as you were eventually I wouldn’t be strong enough to say no, and I’d never forgive myself for that. That and you’d probably kill me in the morning.” Sanji admits. 

Zoro stares at him and smiles whilst ignoring the concerning flutter in his chest at Sanji’s words. He doesn’t know what to say to that, so many possibilities race through his mind.

“How about breakfast? It’s late and I’m kind of hungry.” He suggests instead and gently takes his wrist back from Sanji. 

“Do you have anything that you want in mind?” Sanji challenges with a smile as they walk out of the room together.

“Uh… eggs?” Zoro suggests after a little consideration. 

“Maybe meat too? But I don’t know, not sure I feel like something fried. I’m not good at this, I told you.” He adds with a frown.

“No, no, that’s helpful. How about… scrambled eggs and salmon?” Sanji replies thoughtfully. 

“Is that something that you can have? I’ve not heard of that.” He says in surprise.

“Oh, it’s a thing. And now you’re having it for breakfast.” The cook grins in anticipation. 

As they near the kitchen they hear voices, Usopp’s and Franky’ to be precise. They become amusingly clear as they open the doors to the kitchen. Both men have their backs to the door and haven’t noticed their presence, busy as they are arguing at the base of a giant ladder that reaches up to nearly the top of Sanji’s high ceilinged kitchen and breakfast dining area.

“You’re forgetting my can’t-go-up-in-high-places-on-rickety-ladders disease! It’s very serious, life threatening even!” Usopp protests, waving his arms dramatically.

"It will be fatal if you don't get up that ladder." Franky says flatly.

"Why don't you go up there then?" Usopp pouts.

"Because this is a very rickety ladder and if I fall you won't be able to stop me and that'll work out badly for both of us won't it?" Franky replies with a sigh.

"What're you two doing?" Zoro asks making both men jump.

"Zoro! What happened to you throat?" Usopp gasps looking at him in surprise.

"Uh, I don't know, what's wrong with it?" Zoro says blinking in confusion.

"You've got a big bruise on it! It looks like someone punched you!" The painter exclaims.

"Oh wow, he's right. Just here." Sanji explains gesturing to his own long pale throat with long delicate fingers.

"Oh, it's probably the collar, it bruises sometimes if I sleep funny or knock it. The padlock probably doesn't help either. This is why I don't sleep on my front, damn thing." Zoro curses rubbing at his neck gently. He can feel a dull ache coming from around where Sanji pointed to.

"Does it hurt?" Sanji frowns, touching his neck. Zoro suppresses the small shiver at his touch and prays that the drink will make it out of his system soon.

"A little I guess, this thing almost always hurts somehow. Bruises, scratches, malfunctions, you name it. Big heavy inflexible collars aren't exactly fun." He grumbles.

Sanji looks up at him with his big blue eyes filled with worry and his stupid eyebrows pinched together. Great, now the cook is pitying him too.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't want your pity." he snaps, Sanji starts to protest but Zoro ignores him and turns his attention back to the other two.

"What are you two doing then, replacing a light or something?" Zoro asks, gesturing up the ladder.

"Yeah, the bulb blew." Usopp nods holding up the bulb.

"But yellow belly here is too scared to get up there and fix it." Franky teases the smaller man.

“I’ll do it, give it here.” Zoro says and plucks the bulb from Usopp’s willing fingers. He clambers up the ladder and focuses his attention to unscrewing the dead bulb and replacing the new one. By the time that he’s done Sanji has diverted his attention to his cooking and isn’t giving Zoro that sad little look. 

When he arrives at the bottom Usopp assures him that he would have happily changed the bulb, he just didn’t want to ruin Zoro’s fun. In fact, Usopp assures him, he was the guy that everyone is his village came to when they needed a light bulb changing. Zoro nods politely for a while until the other man gets too carried away, then he tunes him out. 

Breakfast is of course fantastic and actually kind of just what he was craving, which is a little odd. Some part of his appetite feels satisfied in some way beyond simply not being hungry any more. He foolishly decides to mention it to the cook afterwards.

“Hey, so… thanks for the food.” Zoro says, dropping the last of the plates in the sudsy water before Sanji.

“No problem.” Sanji shrugs and lights his cigarette before he gets his hands wet. 

“You know, it’s kind of strange…” Zoro begins thoughtfully as Sanji starts to wash.

“You’re kind of strange.” Sanji butts in with a smirk around his cigarette.

“Shaddap,” Zoro retorts before continuing. “Breakfast was actually really good. I don’t know, I must have been craving protein or fish or something. I guess I was hungry for that, it feels good.” 

Sanji’s head snaps up and he looks at him with an expression that looks half like a five year old on Christmas morning and part like Sanji’s grin might actually crack his head in half.

“Geez! Turn down the brightness of that smile a little why don’t ya? You’re gonna blind me or something!” Zoro scoffs.

“You really liked it? It was what you wanted?” The cook asks enthusiastically, completely forgetting the washing in the sink to stare at him in joy. 

“Yes, now stop looking at my like that. God you’re weird.” He says shoving the dishtowel over Sanji’s face so that he doesn’t have to look at the moron’s beaming grin. 

“Oi, you’ll start a fire with my cigarette if you do that. And there’s nothing weird about liking making people happy.” Sanji pouts around his cigarette, shoving Zoro’s towel away.

“It’s pretty weird to be that happy about it.” Zoro points out and looks away. Sanji’s glee makes him almost uncomfortable.

They finish cleaning up in silence, Zoro's feeling pretty tired from being awake so much of the night so it's not too hard to narrow his focus to his current task and ignore the blonde next to him that's practically radioactive with happiness. He really doesn't get the big deal, why is Sanji so pleased with having made something that his body was apparently craving? Still, Sanji's glee at that is preferable to the potential awkwardness that could have happened between them after last night and this morning. After all he did manage to get off from Sanji just touching him. He feels his cheeks redden and fights down the part of his brain that wonders what Sanji could make him feel like if he was actually trying to get him off.

"So," Sanji says before being interrupted by a jaw cracking yawn, evidently he's pretty tired too, "I'm supposed to be doing the evening shift at the Baratie tonight. I know that it wasn't exactly great last time with those bastards in the alley, but the Baratie is pretty great." Sanji says.

"Are you asking me if I want to come with you again?" Zoro asks feeling a little perplexed by Sanji's apparently round-about way of asking. It's a little odd, Sanji could just say "we're going" and they would, that's what he's said about all the parties but then, Zoro supposes, Sanji didn't get much choice in them himself. The blonde almost seems nervous that he might say no!

"Well, you don't have to or anything. Though I have to say I think Zeff kind of liked you, and that's a big deal, Zeff barely likes anyone! Sometimes I'm not even sure he likes me!" Sanji says rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Sure, I'll come with. But I'm bringing my swords." Zoro says firmly, almost hoping that he'll get a chance to use them on those thugs in the alleyway.

"Okay." Sanji agrees with a nod.

"Well, I'm not sure that I can go back to sleep, even if I am completely sleep deprived, so I might go watch a movie." Sanji says, smothering a yawn with the back of his hand as he slowly walks out of the room.

"What're you gonna watch?" Zoro asks curiously as he follows him out of the kitchen.

"Hm, whatever's on." The blonde shrugs.

Whatever is on turns out to be an old spaghetti western which Sanji sprawls out in front of on the cushy sofa. Zoro's never seen it before but he too sits down and makes himself comfortable. It takes all of ten minutes of Clint Eastwood's low voice for both men to be sprawled together on the sofa in a tangle of limbs and in a deep sleep. Zoro's head is pillowed on Sanji's stomach and the cook has his leg hooked around Zoro's hip.

The two men wake several hours later, not because they want to or because they’re no longer tired, but because the rather bright flash from Usopp’s camera startles them both awake. 

“Oh man, that’s great!” Usopp grins in glee, looking at the picture displayed on the back of his camera.

“Give that here!” Sanji snarls and lunges for the sharpshooter. Sanji’s reach is hindered by being tangled up with Zoro though. By the time Usopp has screamed enough and run far enough away Sanji has worked his other leg free which, unfortunately for Zoro’s sanity, places him right between Sanji’s legs with his face hovering just above Sanji’s crotch. 

What disturbs him most about his awkward position is not how he ended up there, which is perfectly innocent, but what his mind is thinking. He hopes that it’s the drink in his system that is whispering to him, that is telling him to lower himself down, flick the button on Sanji’s trousers open and then pull the fly down with his teeth. He hopes that it’s the drink that is imagining just what Sanji would look like freed from the confines of his underwear, and he really hopes that it’s not him that wonders what Sanji would taste like…

He forces himself back from Sanji with all of the speed and efficiency of a cat avoiding a bath full of water. He scrambles from the room just as fast and doesn’t stop moving until he reaches his bedroom. He leans on the door shakily and tries to calm down a little. It must just be the drink, it has to be. He storms over to the mirror in his bathroom and looks at his eyes expectantly, in the mirror a pair of slightly horrified golden brown eyes look back at him, no red in sight at all. 

He shoves away from the mirror and shakes his head, just because it’s not in his eyes anymore doesn’t mean it’s not in his blood. So he could just… stop thinking about it. It was fine, he was more than capable of shoving thoughts of Sanji out of his mind, especially thoughts like that. 

He snags one of the books that Robin leant him and stomps out onto the balcony, he drops into a chair and opens the book with a sigh. Reading will take his mind away from the real world, it always has. He buries himself in denial and in his book until Sanji eventually gets him to go to the Baratie.

 

This time the Baratie feels a little more welcoming, Sanji certainly seems to enjoy teaming up with Zoro to insult that idiot chef that was harassing him last time. Zoro learns that his name is Patty. Sanji is pulling ingredients out of the fridge and handing them to the building pile in Zoro’s arms. The cook is happily explaining what each ingredient is going to go into and explaining the dishes excitedly. If Zoro didn’t know better he’d almost think that the cook was trying to impress him. 

Sanji’s got everything neatly laid out at his work station when Zeff comes stomping into the room on his peg leg, moustache twitching angrily. 

“What’s all the shouting in my kitchen for?!” The old man bellows. 

“Sanji and Zoro were causing trouble!” Patty pipes up loudly and with glee. 

“Like hell we were carp-face!” Sanji shouts back.

“See!” Carne agrees with a yell. 

“Shut it you! Or I’ll make you into a shish-kebab myself!” Zoro threatens, flicking his sword free of its sheath in a threatening way. 

“You two, out!” Zeff snaps, Zoro grins until he realises that the old cook is talking about him and Sanji.

“Wait- what the hell old geezer, why us?!” the blonde shouts, clearly just as confused and offended.

“Out. Go buy us some new ingredients or something, you’re early anyway. Now get lost, you’re causing trouble in my kitchen.” The old man orders, his finger pointing to the back door that Zoro knows leads out into the alleyway.

“Screw you old man, serve your shitty food without me, I hope this entire place goes under!” Sanji shouts and stomps out of the restaurant like a five year old having a tantrum.

Zoro sighs, rolls his eyes and follows, not missing the smirk on the old cook’s face as he goes. The swordsman half hopes that those thugs will be back in the alley waiting for them and he and Sanji can have a good fight, but no, there’s just one sulky petulant blonde and a few dumpsters. 

“Come on, let’s roll. There’s an open market not too far from here and they sometimes have nice things.” The blonde says in a surly voice. Zoro shrugs and follows him. 

Sanji leads them down a few roads and before long and despite his failing sense of direction Zoro recognises the area. This isn’t too far from where Luffy and Ace live, he’d been here himself a few times with Nami in fact. He recognises the run down brickwork and railway arches, he recognises that odd house with the spooky windows, and the bustle of the marketplace down the road is just as familiar now as it ever was.

“Hey, I’ve been here before.” He says excitedly, grabbing Sanji’s elbow.

But before Sanji can reply Zoro hears, very distantly, the frequently uttered words “Gomu Gomu no GRAB!” 

Zoro’s instincts have been trained from years of fighting, from years of experience and practice. Therefore, his brain doesn’t even have to get involved as his very body knows that those words are usually immediately followed by a stretchy hand on his person and a high speed trip with a sudden painful stop. He latches desperately onto the nearest solid thing which, in this case, happens to be Sanji’s arm. 

The blonde looks perplexed for half a second before a rubbery hand closes around Zoro’s upper arm and the world shoots backwards. They both scream as the world flies past them, but Zoro has the forethought to glance behind him to see what he’s about to land on, in this case a rather startled looking Ace in an alleyway, a pleased looking Luffy and plenty of gravel. Great. Zoro hates gravel. 

They land painfully, Zoro’s shoulder and arm skid along the gravel ripping hundreds of tiny gritty scratches and grazes into his skin. Sanji lands awkwardly with his elbow hitting Zoro in the gut and making him roll onto the front coughing hard enough to threaten to bring his lungs up. 

“God- fucking- DAMNIT LUFFY!” Zoro shouts at the ground as he coughs and tries not to retch.

“How MANY TIMES do I have to tell you not to do that?!” He snarls, looking up at the beaming boy. 

“Who’s-” Luffy starts, looking over at his unexpected bonus prize of Sanji, but Ace leaps in before Luffy can even ask.

“That’s him Luffy! That’s Zoro’s master!” Ace shouts with rage and balls his hand into a fist that instantly catches on fire. 

Behind Zoro in the wide alleyway Sanji leaps to his feet, still disorientated but knowing danger when he sees it, smart man. 

“Whoa, whoa! Hold up Ace!” Zoro exclaims, getting to his feet as well and putting his hand on Ace’s chest. The dark haired man scowls at Sanji over Zoro’s shoulder, his expression fierce and made even more sinister by the shadow cast on his face from his cowboy hat. 

“Ace?!” Sanji snaps, probably confused. Zoro looks back at Sanji, the poor guy wouldn’t have any idea who Ace was but from the look on his face Zoro could bet that Sanji loathes the guy. Which is really unfair because he doesn’t know a thing about Ace, although being threatened with a flaming fist does somewhat make for a bad first impression. 

Ace is stood stock still glaring Sanji down and Sanji is stood with his feet squared, ready to fight and giving Ace the dirtiest look Zoro’s ever seen. 

“Zoro come on, let’s go. Ace can handle this guy, I can get you far enough away before he calls someone to find you.” Luffy urges, tugging on Zoro’s arm, trying to pull him down the alleyway and back out onto the street. 

“Luffy, no, you’ve got it wrong.” He protests, looking down at the younger teen.

“Yeah Luffy, he’s not going to be alive long enough to call anyone.” Ace says darkly as flames catch on more of his body.

“Big words from a guy with smiley face stickers on his hat, and you, get your hands off of Zoro!” Sanji snaps, sparing a quick scowl at Luffy. 

“Oi, morons, cut it out!” Zoro snaps, shaking his arm free of Luffy and shoving Sanji in the chest. The blonde startles, his aggressive expression falling for a second as he looks at Zoro in surprise.

“Zoro, these two are trying to kidnap you and murder me!” Sanji shouts, gesturing to the D brothers. 

“They’re not going to, this idiot is my best friend.” He says heaving a sigh and gesturing to the now perplexed looking Luffy.

“Oi Ace, I thought we were kidnapping Zoro to rescue him.” Luffy frowns, scratching his head through his straw hat. 

“We are Luffy.” Ace says tersely through gritted teeth, his body still aflame. 

“Oh, right!” Luffy nods and gets into a fighting pose, staring threateningly at Sanji.

“No you’re not Luffy.” Zoro sighs frustratedly, looking over his shoulder at the rubber man. 

“Oh, right.” Luffy frowns, standing back up normally. He glances from Ace to Zoro as the conflicting information registers in his brain.

“Uwah! I don’t know what to do!” Luffy whines in confusion and pulls his hat down over his eyes. Poor, poor, simple Luffy.

“Ugh. Fine, here’s the deal blondie, you let Zoro go and don’t call him in as missing and I might not kill you.” Ace threatens, stepping closer to Sanji.

“You suck at negotiating, freckles. Zoro’s not going anywhere with you! Now you get lost or I’ll kick your spleen right outta your body and cook it over your burning corpse.” Sanji snarls, stepping closer as well. Zoro rolls his eyes, Sanji’s creative insults aside this was getting a bit much.

With a sigh he unsheathes Kitetsu and Shusui and holds them out parallel threatening both men equally. Both Ace and Sanji stop in their tracks and stare at the swords levelled at their throats in surprise.

“Zoro, you’ve got your swords, but how? Where did you-?” Ace asks in surprised confusion.

“I got them back for him, bastard. Because I care about him!” Sanji sneers across the two blade.

“You care? The only thing you rich assholes care about-” Ace shouts back in a rage before Zoro decides that enough is enough and interrupts.

“My turn, how about you both stop and listen to me for two goddamn minutes before I cut you both?” Zoro threatens, moving the blades closer to both of them. 

“But Zoro-!” Ace and Sanji protest in sync, causing both to glower at the other for speaking.

“I said LISTEN not TALK!” Zoro snaps. He heaves a weary sigh and begins.

“Sanji, this is Ace. Ace is Luffy’s older brother and a long time friend of mine. It’d be great if you didn’t try to kick his head off.” Zoro says simply, gesturing to Ace with a jerk of his head. Sanji’s expression is sour as six month old milk and his teeth are clenched so tightly that a muscle is dancing tensely in his jaw.

“Ace, this is Sanji. Yes, he technically is my master but not really. He’s a good guy, honest, he’s nothing like any of us expected. Don’t set him on fire or hurt him, I mean it.” Zoro explains, looking to Ace and gesturing to Sanji.

The two men scowl at each other over Zoro’s swords. Ace breaks contact first and looks at Zoro incredulously. 

“If he’s so nice,” Ace begins darkly, “why are you covered in bruises?” 

The older man grabs Zoro’s bruised up wrist in demonstration, Zoro can’t help but wince. The bruises really do look awful, now that they’ve had a little time to set they’ve come up all purple and black, it looks like he’s been chained up in some dungeon all week. 

“It’s not what you think.” He says quickly, but Ace’s eyes are flashing in anger, he doesn’t believe him. 

“It wasn’t like that.” Sanji insists in an offended tone. 

“Yeah, I bet.” Ace growls, clenching his fist by his side as if ready to deliver a flaming sucker punch.

“Ace no! Look, it was for my own good!” he insists desperately, knowing Ace’s serious fighting face when he sees it. 

As soon as the words leave his mouth he regrets them. He knows just how he sounds, he sounds like some beaten housewife “it was my fault” “I deserved it” “it was for my own good”. But this is different, Sanji wasn’t hurting him, Sanji was protecting him. Ace’s fire burns hotter, turning blue at the hottest points of his fist, he pulls back his arm for a punch of fire. 

“Ace no!” Zoro yells, bringing his swords up to block Ace’s fatal punch. The ball of blue fire redirects over his blade, altering its path. He can feel the immense heat of it as it whooshes by his face. He feels Sanji duck by his side and then registers a sudden scorch of heat on his forearm as one of Ace’s flames hits. He hears Luffy’s horrified yell behind him. 

“STOP IT!” He bellows, his sword at Ace’s throat. The fire fist swallows in surprise and the very movement breaks his skin over Zoro’s blade and Kitetsu drinks his blood into her blade, her curse humming happily in Zoro’s hand. He makes a mental note to chide the problem child sword later but for now he hasn’t the time. 

“Sanji is a good man, I’m not brainwashed or beaten into saying that either – give me a little fucking credit!” Zoro snaps.

“Z-Zoro.” Sanji breathes shakily, Zoro ignores him.

“Besides, what exactly was your plan? You kill Sanji and Luffy kidnaps me? Where were you two geniuses going to go from there? Like no one would notice that Sanji was missing?!” He snaps, unable to believe the brother’s idiocy. Ace glances away, his cheeks reddening.

“We would have thought of something. You could have used your swords to cut the collar off.” Ace mutters, clearly upset at being shouted at so harshly.

“Is that before or after the defensive shock that this thing has makes my hand spasm so much that I stab myself through the brain?” He snaps back.

“Zoro!” Sanji pleads at his side.

“Shut up! I know you two meant well but, really?!” He snaps back at Ace.

“Zoro, your fucking arm!” Sanji shouts, kicking him in the side to get his attention. Zoro scowls and turns his gaze to Sanji.

The blonde’s trembling hands are on his forearm, and in between his long shaking fingers is a huge burnt out crater in his arm, easily the size of a couple of large orange wedges. The wound is still smoking slightly. 

“Oh.” Zoro manages in surprise, lowering his other arm in shock. He hears Ace breathe his name in a horrified voice on the other side of him.

“Don’t you ‘oh’ me you bastard. Give me that!” Sanji snaps, prying his fingers away from Shusui and quickly sheathing it in the correct sheath. 

“H-hey, don’t touch my swords!” he argues, unable to put much venom in his words as the hole in his arms has his eyes glued. 

“Straighten your fingers! Wiggle your goddamn fingers moss-head!” Sanji orders, holding Zoro’s limp loosely curled palm in his hand. 

Zoro’s fingers stay motionless in Sanji’s hot palm. He focuses as panic rises in his throat. His thumb twitches weakly but his other fingers don’t even move. With a terrified breath Zoro clenches his fist, but when he goes to release it the most he can do is relax his fingers. He tries to pull his wrist up but his hand just shudders. 

“I- I can’t.” He breathes shakily. 

“Shit… SHIT!” Sanji curses and runs his fingers gingerly around the edges of the wound, Zoro can’t even feel the touch.

“I don’t feel anything, it doesn’t hurt.” He says just as numbly. 

“Because that bastard has burnt you so badly that your nerves are dead!” Sanji snarls dangerously at Ace.

“I- I didn’t mean to!” Ace exclaims reaching for Zoro.

“Keep your hands to yourself, bastard! I’ll kill you for this, Zoro will be lucky if he ever holds a sword again, let alone uses one!” The blonde screams at the other man. Furiously he digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone. 

“Usopp, get here NOW! Zoro needs to get to my father’s hospital as soon as is humanly possible!” Sanji orders and snaps the thing shut.

“Zoro, Zoro you’re gonna be okay right?” Luffy asks, his worried face peeking into Zoro’s peripheral vision. 

Zoro was at a loss for words, he desperately wanted to say that yes, he was okay, because he did want to be okay. But he couldn’t help but stare at the burnt hole in his arm and feel mounting dread. He knew a lot about anatomy, if you wanted to be good with a sword and good at killing people you had to be. He knew that a cut that went as deep as this burn did would sever major arteries, damage or completely cut tendons and even mar the bones underneath. If he’d done this to someone with a sword he wouldn’t expect them to use their hand ever again, if they even got to keep it. 

Sanji’s blue car lands suddenly by their side, making all four men jump. Before Zoro can so much as think Sanji has grabbed him and thrown him into the back and is screaming directions at Usopp and calling the hospital. 

Zoro stares numbly at his arm as Ace and Luffy fade into the distance below them.


	10. Chapter 10

The moment that they get to the hospital Zoro is whirled into a drama of antiseptic, bright lights and examinations. People urgently talk to Sanji but ignore him, Zoro isn’t surprised and quite frankly he doesn’t want to talk to anyone anyway. He also discovers with disappointment that not all doctors are like Chopper, kind and caring. Every member of staff seems eager to please Sanji though and Zoro hears the other man’s name and title whispered in every corridor, here Sanji clearly commands some power. 

The supervising doctor is apparently a man named Dr. Hogback who is apparently Sanji’s father’s preferred doctor and pet prodigy. The man is tall and unreasonably round in the middle with spindly legs, he is apparently the world’s greatest surgeon.

“My brilliant plan,” He announces, entering Zoro’s private hospital room with a smug air, 

“Is to remove the burnt flesh and insert artificial muscle into the gap in his arm, it appears that his tendons themselves are intact but damaged, they can be repaired, that is no problem. The real genius lies in this, the artificial muscle will serve as a temporary structure through which new muscle will grow, in a few months his arm will be as if nothing happened. Hah!” The doctor laughs clearly pleased with his own genius. 

Sanji is standing at the side of Zoro’s bed, his face taut with worry. He runs a hand through Zoro’s hair, he’s been doing it for a while now and Zoro has realised that he’s doing it as much to calm and comfort himself as he is for Zoro’s benefit.

“So, he’ll be fine?” Sanji says hopefully.

“As I said, it will be as if nothing happened. I just need your consent.” The doctor nods, producing some paperwork on a clipboard. 

Sanji takes it and looks it over, flicking through the pages.

“This all seems fairly standard, warning that you might die while you’re under, that you might react badly to the drugs and so on. Do you want to do this?” Sanji asks, looking down at him. Zoro is sure that Sanji is right but can’t help but be struck by the idea that Sanji has started learning to read contracts since the last one that he was handed.

“I actually just need your consent Sir Prince, his isn’t necessary.” Doctor Hogback says before Zoro can speak. 

“I won’t consent for you to do anything to him unless he consents, so yes, actually, you do need it.” Sanji growls, glaring at the doctor. 

“Sanji, I need my hand. Sign whatever you have to.” Zoro says, looking up at the blonde. Sanji nods in agreement and signs the papers, handing them back to the somewhat snubbed looking Doctor Hogback.

“Excellent! We’ll begin right away!” Doctor Hogback says, evidently shaking off his funk and clapping his hands in excitement. The doctor pulls Zoro’s bed away and out of the room with the aid of a nurse with short blonde hair. Zoro turns his neck just in time as they exit the room to see Sanji nervously standing in the empty room looking at him with a heart-wrenching expression on his face. 

The operating room itself is clean and packed with expensive looking equipment. The doctor is barking orders to the other medical staff but the serious looking woman with the bobbed blonde hair stays at his side. She looks down at him and Zoro notices that she has two long scars running along her pretty face, her skin is so pale, almost white in its complexion and her eyes are serious. From this angle Zoro can just see a white collar peeking out of her high surgery scrubs, she leans over him to check some tube and reveals a small clear glass padlock at her throat too.

“You’re like me.” Zoro murmurs, touching his own padlock with his good hand. He’d known that some businesses owned mates, they could be useful as you didn’t have to pay them and they couldn’t say no to hours, buying them outright cost too much money for most businesses though so very few did so. He’d not thought that a hospital would do so, even if it did have Sanji’s exceedingly rich family as clients. 

Perhaps she was a gift from Sanji’s father just as he was. Most businesses that owned mates though weren’t respectable things like hospitals, they were either doing it as a status symbol or because they needed someone on staff that couldn’t say no to people. Rather disgustingly prisons and other single sex establishments often had them. Or a business might own several mates and essentially be a high class escort service. But unless this hospital offered some rather unusual therapy this was a first.

 

“Doctor Hogback.” She says curtly, explaining. She belongs to him then, not the hospital. Looking closer though he’s never seen a collar like hers before though, unlike the synthetic plastic and metal of Zoro’s hers looks to be made mostly of plastic and glass, even the ring on it for her glass padlock is plastic. 

Zoro doesn’t know what to say, he never does. He can’t say that he’s sorry because it comes off a little meaningless when he’s in effectively the same position. And it’s incredibly frowned upon for a mate to ask for details about another mate’s master, half of the point of being owned is that your master’s secrets are supposed to be safe with you. Besides, he’s not sure that he wants to know what the Doctor is like, especially if those scars on her face are anything to go by. 

“Are you scared?” She asks seriously of him, apparently ignoring the sudden silence as she attaches two electrical monitors to his chest. 

“Of being cut open? No.” Zoro answers honestly with a shake of his head.

“You’re scared that it won’t work then.” She says looking at him.

“I need my hands.” Zoro concedes. They had left his swords in the car, to stop any awkward questions being raised, but all he can think of is not being able to use his three sword style again. 

“It will work. Hogback is doctor whose skill is unrivalled, he says that he can cure death.” The blonde woman says looking up at the unaware doctor in a sinister way. Zoro doesn’t know what to make of her unnerving attitude. 

“But… death isn’t an injury or a sickness, you can’t cure it.” Zoro says with a frown.

“Quite.” She agrees quietly. She picks up a clear plastic face mask and places it over Zoro’s nose and mouth. 

“This though, this can be fixed. Your arm will be fine. Breathe deeply and you will be back before you know it.” She smiles gently at him. 

“What’s your name?” Zoro asks woozily as the strange, almost menthol smelling gas, diffuses through his system. The woman looks a little surprised at his question but smiles at him nonetheless. 

“My name is Victoria Cindry.” She says.

It seems as if Zoro has just blinked, one moment he was talking to Cindry, the next the world was coming into focus and moving. But also it seems as if some time has passed. He frowns as his addled brain tries to make sense of things. 

His head lolls to the side, the bed is moving… he is moving. They’re going through doors…

The world fades again as if just blinking and as if not too. 

When he opens his eyes again, he is still. Two warm hands are clasped around his left one and he can hear a voice quietly pleading.

“Please god, please, please, please.” Sanji whispers quietly against Zoro’s skin. He repeats again and again, rounds and rounds of silent prayers. 

“What good ‘s tha’ ever don’ anybody?” Zoro slurs, his tongue uncooperative and his mouth as dry as a desert. 

Sanji’s head snaps up, his blonde hair wild and unruly. Sanji stares at him for a moment, one wide, stunned blue eye looking at him. 

“You’re okay!” Sanji eventually chokes out. 

“Good to know.” He grins lazily at the man. 

“Thank goodness.” The blonde breathes in relief, running a hand through his locks, messing it further and giving Zoro an idea of how it got to be so messy. 

Zoro struggles up, still feeling numb and un-coordinated. He looks down to his right arm only to find the entire thing in plaster from fingertip to elbow, his fingers are stretched out and separated in plaster so he can’t move them even a millimetre. 

“Doctor Hogback said that they’ll take the plaster off tomorrow, run some tests and see how it took, until then you’re kind of stuck.” Sanji explains, picking a glass off of the table that comes over Zoro’s bed and pouring water into it. Zoro immediately perks up at that, he’s so thirsty. Sanji stirs the ice in the glass with a straw and gently holds it up to Zoro.

“Don’t drink this too fast, they warned that you might feel sick after the anaesthesia.” The blonde warns him. 

“I’ll be fine.” Zoro huffs taking the glass from Sanji and throwing the straw away to drink normally. 

“Fine, but if you puke see if I feel bad for you.” Sanji snorts having apparently reached his quota of caring sympathy for the day.

As it happens Zoro doesn’t puke, and he manages to eat some half-assed hospital food, it’s certainly better than most hospital food but the sneering look on Sanji’s face says more than Zoro ever could. Nurses come in and take his blood pressure, make him stand and walk around to prove that he’s not about to keel over, they take blood samples and seem pleased. 

Eventually Doctor Hogback comes into the room and looks his results over. The good doctor of course spends the entire time talking to just Sanji and not to Zoro at all, he might as well not even be in the room. 

“He needs to stay here overnight, and if he feels any numbness or tingling in his arm or his fingers you need to get us right away.” The doctor advises.

“Can I stay here too?” Sanji asks, his hand finding Zoro’s uninjured left hand. 

“Of course, we can get a bed ready in here for you tonight if you want.” Hogback nods.

“Now, unfortunately, there are some police officers that want to see you. Cindry-chan has been putting them off for some time now but they’re quite insistent. I’ll show them up.” Doctor Hogback says, leaving the room.

Zoro’s spine snaps straight at the doctor’s words. He looks over at Sanji wide eyed.

“You can’t tell them about Ace! Please!” He begs urgently. 

“He burnt a hole in your arm Zoro!” Sanji says with a glare.

“He didn’t mean to, really.” Zoro insists in desperation.

“No! He was just trying to kill me, which, really happen to take issue with!” the blonde snaps, standing up from his chair and pacing the room angrily, looking like a caged animal.

“Sanji, please, you know what Ace must have thought. He just leapt to the wrong idea is all, he thinks that you’ve been keeping me chained up, he thinks that you did this to me! And if this is just what he can see, who knows what other marks you might have left on me!” Zoro argues back, pointing to the large angry bruise on his neck. 

“I would never! I’ve never hurt you!” Sanji shouts with a hurt expression on his face.

“I know that, and that’s what I was trying to tell him. But he doesn’t know, everything he’s seen tells him that you have been, of course he’s angry. I’ve known Ace for years, we’re close and he’s protective about people he cares about.” He reasons with a sigh. Sanji stays silent but Zoro can hear his shaky breaths from across the room.

“Please don’t tell them about Ace, they’ll throw him in prison. Please, for me, I’ll do anything.” He pleads. 

Sanji whirls around to look at him wide eyed when he says that, he seemed shocked somehow, and almost angry too.

“Really? You’d really offer to do anything, knowing all that I could potentially ask of you? You’d do that, just to keep him safe?” Sanji says, striding over to him and leaning way into Zoro’s personal space, his hand caging Zoro into the bed.

Zoro looks at Sanji, really looks at him. The other man is angry and upset, although what about Zoro isn’t sure. But he is sure about Sanji, the other man has proved enough that he deserves trust so he’s going to get it.

“Yeah, anything. I know you, I trust you.” He answers quietly. 

Sanji stands up and moves away then, he turns his back on Zoro and says nothing. 

“What exactly are you expecting me to say to these police detectives that you’re asking me to lie to? What lie do you want me to give them so that someone who tried to kill me won’t get caught?” The blonde asks in a dark tone, without turning back to him.

“I don’t know, tell them I hurt myself on a…. a… a blowtorch or something!” He says exasperatedly.

Sanji remains still and silent though, neither confirming nor denying Zoro’s request. 

“Sanji…” Zoro pleads to his master’s turned back. He knows just what will happen if Ace is caught, the police and the courts always pursue justice for the rich, and then some. At the very least Ace will be thrown in prison for years and made to pay Sanji back for all of the money that Zoro’s cutting edge and no doubt pricy surgery cost. And if he couldn’t? Well, more jail. Ace would never see the light of day again as long as he lived.

Zoro has no more time to plead his case though as a large gruff police officer and a young female police officer enter the room. Zoro’s eyes widen, the woman looks just how Kuina would have looked now if she had lived. He rubs his eyes in shock, maybe the medication from the surgery hadn’t worn off after all. 

“Sir Prince, thank you for finally agreeing to see us. I’m Captain Smoker.” The man says in an irritated tone, as if he can’t quite believe that he’s having to spend his time talking to Sanji of all people.

“It’s no problem at all, but my mate has only just woken up, I didn’t want to leave his side until now. I’m sure you understand.” Sanji answers formally in a stiff voice, his arms tight across his chest. 

“Of course. If you’ll go into the waiting room down the hall my Lieutenant will take your statement about the vandalism.” Smoker says in something that Zoro guesses is meant to resemble cordiality. 

“If you’ll come with me, Sir.” The woman who looks like Kuina says, gently taking Sanji’s arm and leading him from the room. Sanji follows her without a backward look at Zoro, leaving him with a sinking feeling in his stomach and a grizzled police Captain watching him suspiciously. 

“So, let’s hear it then boy, what happened?” Smoker says, dropping into the chair by Zoro’s bed that Sanji had been sitting in earlier. 

“It was an accident, that’s all. Why are you asking me anyway? It’s not like the police get to take my statement of anything into account.” Zoro points out unhappily and anxiously looks at the door that Sanji left through, straining his ears to hear any of Sanji’s conversation with the woman.

“There are a lot of things that the chief of police and I don’t agree on, but the fact that people like you are people is something that we do agree on. So, what happened?” Smoker says gruffly. Zoro thinks for a moment and files that information about Hina away for later examination. 

“I was an accident, with a blowtorch. Franky, one of Sanji’s staff, does mechanical work on Sanji’s cars so he has one. I picked it up out of curiosity and accidentally turned it on, it burnt right through my arm, it’s so stupid.” Zoro smiles weakly, remembering that most accidents are as a result of dumb mistakes. He’s seen Luffy do enough stupid shit by accident to know how things like this happen, they sound almost unbelievable when you have to explain them to someone else.

“And this was at Sir Prince’s home?” The man asks, rummaging in his jacket for something.

“Yeah.” Zoro says with a nod. 

“And you managed to pick up a blowtorch and burn right through your right arm with your left?” Smoker says raising an eyebrow as he pulls out a cigar and sticks it between his teeth and lights it. 

“I’m left handed, so yeah. You’re not allowed to smoke in here, Sanji’s already been told off for trying.” Zoro points out, remembering when Cindry came in and damn near put Sanji’s smoke out on his skin as punishment!

“Hm? I don’t care.” Smoker shrugs and blows a stream of smoke out at the ceiling. He sighs and looks back down at Zoro, the large cigar clenched in between his teeth. 

“Now, how about we try this on for size, hm? Blondie out there demands something of your that you don’t want to give. You say no, or perhaps you fight back maybe. Perhaps you just say or do something that he doesn’t like or he’s just had a bad day and needs someone to take it out on. Either way he takes that blowtorch, turns it on you as punishment. When he realises that you’re hurt too bad for him to deal with on his own he takes you here and tells you to say that if anyone asks you that you did it, that it was an accident.” Smoker says seriously. 

Zoro just stares at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. That, at least, seems to surprise Smoker.

“Seriously? You’ve really never met Sanji before have you?” Zoro laughs. The image of Sanji who was so apologetic to him this very morning turning a blow torch on him as some sadistic punishment is almost too contradictory for words, it’s funny!

“You don’t have to play this off as a joke, boy. If he did this to you then tell me!” Smoker orders him, banging his fist on the arm of the chair angrily. The smile falls from Zoro’s face at that.

“Of all of the people you could accuse of something like that you accuse Sanji? The worst thing that man’s turned a blow torch on is a dessert. And even if he had, there’s nothing that you could do. Damaging your own property isn’t a crime, it’s not abuse if I’m not legally a person, or didn’t they teach you that in police academy?” Zoro growls angrily. 

“Surely you have other actual psychopaths to harass for things that you can’t charge them for? Like Sanji’s father, or his uncle, or that scumbag Cabaji?” He adds with a snarl. 

Silence falls between the two of them then, with Smoker looking at him in a considering way. During the silence Sanji’s voice, though muffled by distance and the shut door, shrieks “I would NEVER!”

“See?” Zoro points out. He can hear Sanji’s angry footsteps coming down the corridor towards the room.

“Even by a lady as lovely as you I won’t stand here and be accused of… of such things!” Sanji exclaims and wrenches the door open.

If looks could kill then the look that Sanji gives Smoker would leave the man stone dead and shrivelled into a nasty puddle on the linoleum. Unfortunately, they can’t. 

“I think you can leave now!” Sanji snaps furiously at him. 

“What did he say happened Tashigi?” Smoker says almost casually as he leans back in his chair to see around Sanji’s angry form to his subordinate. 

“He claims that it was an accident with a blow torch, self inflicted.” The woman says curtly, her tone clearly conveying how unlikely she believes that story to be. 

Relief and gratitude wash through Zoro’s body like a wave, Sanji did it, he lied. Ace won’t go to prison!

“Hm, same here.” The captain says idly, taking a puff on his cigar.

“Because that’s what happened, now, as I said, you should leave now.” Sanji grits out tersely. 

“I suppose. Oh, Tashigi, where did Sir Prince say that this happened?” Smoker asks casually as he stands up, almost as if the thought has just occurred to him. Zoro and his wave of relief freeze solid.

“At the Baratie, a restaurant that Sir Prince owns and works at.” The woman answers swiftly. Zoro cringes as Smoker smugly turns to look at them both. 

“Well, you’ve had an incredibly unlucky day haven’t you? First you burn yourself with a blowtorch at home and then, on the way to the hospital I presume, you stop by this restaurant, wander into the kitchen and do it again! Neither of you are very bright apparently.” Smoker says sarcastically. 

“Oh, did… did I say the Baratie? I meant-” Sanji scrambles for an excuse.

“Yes, you also said that you could provide witnesses to this accident. You’re aware that lying to the police is a crime Sir Prince?” The woman says darkly. 

Sanji looks down at Zoro, he can see that the cook is angry and unhappy but he grits his teeth anyway and looks back up at the officers with a glare and remains silent. Smoker puffs on his cigar and blows a stream of foul smelling smoke their way, making Sanji wrinkle his nose in distaste, not that Zoro thinks that he can complain with how much he smokes. 

“You know doing this to your mate might not be a crime but lying a police officer is, as well as giving a false statement, wasting police time. All of these things can carry some considerable jail time.” Smoker smiles nastily. Zoro understands now about what Smoker meant about still being able to arrest Sanji. He looks at the two officers in horror, surely they wouldn’t? How could the price for Ace’s freedom be the loss of Sanji’s?

“Good luck with that, I’ll have witnesses to back my statement up.” Sanji says scowling at them.

“Word for word the same or as inaccurately as his? Well make this stick.” Tashigi says threateningly as she glances at Zoro’s plastered arm before levelling an accusing look at Sanji. 

Zoro knows that look, this Tashigi woman might not be Kuina but he knows that when Kuina made that face it meant that she was determined as all hell to do what she wanted. When Zoro saw that face he knew good and well that Kuina would stop at nothing, be it with her training, in an argument or in her quest to become the best. But now Tashigi was wearing it as she swore to put Sanji behind bars, she’ll damn well do it too!

“No, please! He’s not like that, it wasn’t him!” He insists, lunging forward at her to stop her as she turns to leave and start ruining Sanji’s innocent life. Before he reaches her though the IV drip in his arm yanks taut and catches painfully. He lets out a hiss of pain and tumbles backwards on the bed, landing awkwardly on his elbow as he does it which sends an even sharper stab of pain into his system. 

“Zoro!” Sanji exclaims in a panic as he leaps onto the bed, grabbing Zoro’s arm with the IV in it and straightening it to hold it still. 

“Stop moving you idiot, you’re going to make it worse! Oh god, you’ve stabbed the thing straight through your vein and out of your skin!” Sanji exclaims in horror, pulling sharply on Zoro’s wrist to make him straighten his arm instead of curling in on himself in pain. 

He shudders but manages to suppress his reflex to bend his arm enough to let Sanji pull him straight. He forces his muscles to relax and stares down at the needle in his arm. Sanji was right, it has indeed pierced through from the inside of his vein out through his skin, like some god-awful surface piercing. He’s not a squeamish man by any means but looking at it makes him feel a little queasy in all honesty. 

“I have to take this out, it’s bleeding like crazy. What is this stuff anyway, do you need it?” Sanji mutters, squinting up at the IV bag, trying to read what’s written on it. Zoro pulls his eyes away from the horrible needle and looks at Sanji instead, he’s much more pleasing to look at. 

“I don’t know what it is. But they wouldn’t give it to me if I didn’t need it right?” He reasons as Sanji stares down at the needle, his hand hesitating as to whether or not to take it out or how to do so. 

“Well, I don’t care, it’s coming out. You, pass me those cotton balls over there, if you’re going to be here uninvited you can at least do something useful!” Sanji says snappishly, gesturing with a bloody hand at Smoker and the medical trolley that he’s standing next to. On top of that trolley rests a small metal kidney dish with cotton balls in it. 

Smoker raises an eyebrow at Sanji but without saying a word passes the bowl and the balls in it. Sanji grabs one and dabs away the fast flowing blood, Zoro swallows thickly, he’s never been massively fond of needles before and less so now. 

“Don’t stare at it marimo, it’ll just feel worse. I’m gonna take it out okay?” Sanji says with forced calm from his position sat straddling Zoro’s thighs and leaning down over his skewered arm. 

“I’m not a baby, I can handle the pain.” He grouses, embarrassed that Sanji had apparently noticed his discomfort at the sight of the needle in his skin and even more embarrassed at being coddled for it in front of people who are effectively strangers to him. 

“I didn’t say you were, now open your hand so I can hold you down in case you jerk away and put another hole in your arm before I get this thing out. You’re too much like a pincushion today already for my liking.” Sanji tuts at him. 

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” Zoro mutters, but he opens his palm all the same and Sanji firmly fits his knee into it and presses hard enough to hold him there. 

“I’m not making a big deal out of nothing. Honestly, you’ve put me through so much stress since I’ve been with you, I’ve aged horribly I’m sure. I’ll be all wrinkles and grey hair within the month if you keep this up, I’ll look so awful no one will ever love me.” Sanji says dramatically as he wipes more blood away with a cotton ball. Intellectually he knows that Sanji is trying to distract him, but he decides to go with it anyway.

“Well, I certainly won’t love you.” Zoro teases back gently as he rests his forehead in the crook of Sanji’s neck and shoulder, nestling his nose in Sanji’s shiny golden hair. Ever since that night when he told Sanji about Nami he’s been a little fascinated by the blonde’s locks. 

“Gee, thanks for that.” Sanji snorts.

There’s a sharp pain all of a sudden in his arm and true enough his body tries to instinctively jerk away from it but Sanji’s knee pressing into his hand keeps him still. He gasps against Sanji skin, and hisses back out in discomfort. The needle at the end of the IV clinks metallically against his bed frame as Sanji lets it go. Quick as anything the other man has a cotton ball tightly pressed against the wound to stop the bleeding.

“There, I’m gonna hold that there until the bleeding stops, okay?” Sanji says, his voice soothing whilst his fingers press so hard as to be almost painful. He gingerly eases his knee off of Zoro’s palm with a gentle apology. Sanji turns and glares at the two officers who are still standing in the doorway staring at them.

“Are you two still here?” Sanji says pointedly, twisting slightly to look at them without taking his hands off of Zoro’s arm. Zoro peers over Sanji’s shoulder at them, the woman who looks like Kuina looks surprised and confused but Smoker just looks thoughtful and slightly amused. 

“If you have any more questions for me you can direct them at my lawyer who, I assure you, will be paid more per hour to make your lives hell than you two are paid per week. And don’t think I won’t press harassment charges if I catch you speaking to Zoro or to me for no good reason again.” Sanji says nastily and returns his gaze to Zoro’s arm, as if the two aren’t even worth his attention any more. 

“Sanji…” Zoro murmurs feeling guilty. He feels bad for Smoker especially, sure they’re completely wrong about Sanji but they were trying to protect a mate, something that he thought the police would never do. Their hearts were in the right places. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any more questions, but if either of you feel like telling the truth about who really did that to him, you give me a call.” Smoker says placing a business card on the blankets at the bottom of Zoro’s bed. Without another word he guides his partner out of the room and shuts the door behind them. 

Sanji doesn’t say anything after that, he simply remains silent and checks on whether or not Zoro is still bleeding every so often with an unhappy frown on his face. Zoro is acutely aware of how much Sanji just risked for him, even if his lawyer got him off scot free his reputation would undoubtedly be sullied. Sanji didn’t have to lie for him either, he didn’t have to do as he asked to protect someone that he doesn’t even know and has no reason to like, let alone protect. But Sanji did it because he asked. 

While Sanji is occupied with peering at his skin Zoro leans in to the blonde’s hair and presses a kiss to the soft skin just behind Sanji’s ear and where his neck starts to meet the side of his head. Zoro feels the muscles there jump under his lips and Sanji pulls back to look at him in surprise. His big blue eye is staring at him and Zoro just can’t miss the dusting of pink across the pale skinned cook’s cheeks. 

The blonde’s eyes flick down to Zoro’s lips for the briefest of moments and Zoro thinks that Sanji might just kiss him back. The moment balances precariously on a knife edge for a moment before Sanji scrambles off of him in haste.

“Damnit, where’s that nurse?” Sanji mutters red faced as he quickly exists the room. 

Zoro sighs and lies back down on the bed, Sanji seems to be pretty funny about this kind of thing, he remembers when Sanji got all upset about him kissing him over the swords. He hadn’t really thought about it at the time, he had been so overcome with emotion that he’d just grabbed the other man and crashed their mouths together. But this time he’d really meant it, he’d wanted Sanji to kiss him back just then, he’d hoped that the cook might swallow nervously before leaning in towards him and kissing him back. But he hadn’t, he’d run off. Well, whatever, Sanji would probably talk to him if they had a problem. He yawns deeply, whatever medication they had given him has made him completely lethargic and sleepy. He dozes off lazily.

“Hey, thanks so much old man. This hospital food is god-awful.” Sanji’s voice says, slowly filtering down into Zoro’s consciousness. 

“Don’t mention it.” Zeff’s voice grunts through the fog of Zoro’s consciousness. 

Zoro rolls onto his side and curls up into himself under the sheets, he feels almost weightless, it’s kind of nice. 

“Stop looking like you did this to him.” Zeff’s voice growls, followed by a dull thud and a pained yelp from Sanji.

“It is my- Ow! Look, if I had got Zoro out of the way quicker then-” Sanji protests.

“Then you would be the one burnt by that kid. Zoro made his choice, you might not like it but you have to respect it.” The old man says sternly. Sanji starts to protest but Zoro fades away again to the sounds of bickering and kicking. 

Zoro wakes again some time later, he isn’t sure how long, to a hand being run gently through his hair. 

“Hey, you awake? I’ve got food, real food.” Sanji says softly to him. 

Enough of Zoro’s body is familiar with Sanji’s excellent food to form a rebellion against the drugs in his system and pull him fully into alertness and give him back control over his body. His sleepy eyes open to Sanji’s golden hair as the man leans down to fuss with something on the chair by the bed. 

“Your cooking?” Zoro asks, aware that his mouth is so dry that his tongue is sticking to the roof of his mouth. 

“Better, Zeff’s.” Sanji grins at him, Zoro gives a disbelieving snort at that – he’s never tasted food as good as Sanji’s and has every suspicion that Sanji’s respect for his mentor’s food has to be just that, no way it could be better. Sanji gives him a startled look at his derisive noise before going completely pink and averting his gaze. 

“Here, dumbass. It’s chicken soup, you need the protein no doubt but it should be nice and easy to eat.” Sanji mutters, pulling the fitted lid off of a bowl and handing it to Zoro. 

He tries it, it is damn good, easily the best soup he’s ever had. It certainly doesn’t taste like this stuff even knows what a tin can is, let alone having ever been in one, he does wonder though what Sanji’s version of this would taste like. It’s kind of fun actually, deliberately saying things to make the cook go bright red, it’s almost as much fun as pissing him off is.

His stomach growls threateningly as he eats, making Sanji look up sharply at him.

“Eat slower you moron, some of those anaesthetics can really mess with your system. I don’t want you throwing that up.” Sanji warns.

“As if I want that.” Zoro says back sarcastically. Nevertheless he does eat a little slower and enjoys every bite. He and Sanji talk for a little bit after that, pointless inconsequential stuff, he’s not really paying attention and actually falls asleep halfway through. 

 

Sanji is in his lap again, this time his arm isn’t bleeding though so he can properly enjoy the feeling of a lapful of Sanji. He strokes both hands nimbly up Sanji’s sides, his orange shirt looking so tempting on him, though it would doubtlessly look better off of him. 

He smiles and pushes forward, toppling Sanji back onto the bed and leaning over him with all of his weight resting through his right hand so that his free left hand can pop the buttons on Sanji’s shirt open. The orange light in the room makes everything look soft and out of focus whilst making Sanji’s gold hair blaze brilliantly, spread out on the bed below him it looks like a halo. 

Sanji’s smile is both lazy and sexy as he trails a hand along Zoro’s scar just as he had done that night before, except this time his hand continues lower instead of stopping with the scar. Zoro shivers happily at the feel of Sanji’s fingers on him. 

Brushing the other man’s touch aside he slides the blonde out of his shirt and basks in the joy of being able to kiss a path down his fair skinned chest. The blonde smirks up at him and pulls him down, reversing their positions. Sanji grins against his skin as he undoes Zoro’s pyjama trousers and shimmies them off of him. Zoro throws his head back and bites his lip as he hears the sound of Sanji’s belt buckle coming undone. 

“You want me don’t you Zoro?” Sanji breathes heavily in Zoro’s ear as he leans over him. Zoro whines and nods desperately, he really really does want Sanji to fuck him.

“I can’t hear you.” Sanji teases.

“Yes!” Zoro begs out loud. Loud enough, it seems, for him to startle himself awake. Disorientated Zoro blinks at the dark room, realises that the plaster cast is still on his arm and that he’s painfully hard inside his pyjamas. To make matters worse Sanji is sleeping opposite him in a small temporary bed and, if the look on his face is anything to go by, is starting to wake up from the noise. 

In a panic Zoro freezes still and shuts his eyes again, trying to force himself to look relaxed enough to be sleeping. 

He hears Sanji groan and shift in the bed next to him.

“Zoro?” He asks in a whisper. Zoro stays silent and makes no noise.

“Did you say something Zoro?” Sanji asks again. 

Shit, he did hear then. Uh… what could he do?! Oh! He could pretend to be talking in his sleep, Nami used to do that sometimes!

“No… orange boat… Luffy leave that penguin alone.” He mumbles making his dream sound as random and disjointed as possible, the things that Nami used to say in her sleep rarely made any sense either. The big challenge is trying not to make himself laugh at his own stupid words. To make it more convincing he rolls over and snores slightly. 

“The fuck?” Sanji sniggers to himself. After a moment or two of quiet laughter Sanji settles back into bed none the wiser as to the nature of Zoro’s interrupted dream. Zoro allows himself to relax and stop panicking. Now he just has to go back to sleep as well and resist the temptation to climb into Sanji’s bed and convince the other man to help him re-enact said dream. 

 

Zoro does manage to eventually get back to sleep and when he awakes Doctor Hogback returns and informs Sanji that they need to put him through an MRI to take a look at whether or not the surgery worked before allowing Zoro to move his hand and fingers at all. The three of them walk to the MRI room together, it’s not too far but Zoro can’t help but notice how clean the hospital is and how snooty all of the other patients look. It really is one world for the rich and one world for everyone else, he feels like deliberately looking like a slob just out of spite, but his in his pyjamas so he doesn’t have a lot to work with.

Before he can come up with a plan to disgrace himself though they arrive at the MRI room, Cindry is waiting by the door, her white collar just visible over the top of her nurse’s uniform. She holds the door open for them, inside is a small corridor that leads to two rooms, there are big signs up prohibiting them from bringing any metal any further inside. 

“This way Sir Prince, Cindry, take him through there and don’t forget the sedative.” Doctor Hogback warns and leads Sanji through a separate door.

“Yes master.” Cindry answers in a flat voice as they leave. Cindry scowls at her master’s back before leading Zoro through another door. 

Inside this room is a big white machine that’s hollow in the middle like a giant ring donut, the lighting is low and there’s plastic medical tray on the table that runs through the middle of the white machine. More signs prohibiting metal are hung around the room.

“No metal huh?” Zoro asks, looking at one such sign.

“Yes, I’ll need you to take your earrings out. We can’t have any metal in here, even if it’s not magnetic it has a habit of blurring the detail on really fine pictures so it all has to go. If you put them in this dish here you’ll get them back right after.” Cindry explains in her monotonous voice, holding out a little plastic tray for him. 

Zoro hops up onto the table and fiddles with his earrings, but he can’t really take them out one handed. He sighs and gives up.

“Don’t you think it’s a little pointless to take these little things out when this massive collar is full of metal?” Zoro points out irritably. In his padlock alone there’s more solid gold than in this three earrings put together. 

“Let me help you.” Cindry answers loudly, leaning in close and fiddling with Zoro’s earrings.

“They always take your collar off for an MRI, they mean it when they say no metal, it all has to come off. I’ll be taking it off in just a minute. They’ll put you through an MRI for lots of things, but they will always give you one for a suspected head injury.” She whispers in his ear incredibly quietly.

“Why are you telling me this? And if you can take collars off why haven’t you taken your own off?” Zoro whispers back, careful to keep his face neutral as he can see that behind Cindry is a window and through it are Doctor Hogback and Sanji. The doctor is watching them offhandedly but Sanji is asking some questions, though his words are silent behind the glass.

“If I could take my own off I wouldn’t be here. Mine’s been designed to be all glass and plastic so that even if I have an MRI they don’t take it off. But yours we have to.” She answers. She straightens up with his earrings in her hand and drops them into the tray. 

“Now, do what I tell you and when I ask you to lay down and pretend you’re out, do it. We have to sedate mates before taking off their collars, ever since the orange haired girl escaped when we tried to MRI her chest for smoke damage.” Cindry whispers as she picks up a needle from the tray, there’s another by its side, both have a clear liquid in them.

Nami! It has to be! She supposedly burnt to death but… but if she hadn’t and she’d been brought here… well, supposing that she had escaped of course the institute would cover it up, they wouldn’t want mates thinking it was possible or getting an idea of how to do it. She… she could be alive! Oh god, Nami could be alive!

“Please lay back Zoro and just relax.” Cindry says loudly, rolling the sleeve of Zoro’s pyjamas up. She flicks at the needle and squirts a little of the liquid out before leaning down. Instead of jabbing him in the arm though she sticks the needle into his sleeve and depresses the plunger, dampening Zoro’s shirt. Zoro takes the hint and quiets his mind of thoughts of Nami and makes himself relax.

“Is he out?” Doctor Hogback asks over the intercom.

“He seems to be.” Cindry answers looking over her shoulder at the doctor. 

“Why does he need to be out? I don’t see why-” Sanji’s voice says in the background but it cut off when the doctor turns the intercom back off. 

“They’ve just sent the code through, 5435.” The doctor says. So, Cindry needs a code to open his collar, no doubt one which changes every time.

Cindry presses something against his collar, Zoro hears a beeping noise as four digits are entered into the thing against his collar. And then, with a simple click, his collar pops open just to the left of his jugular. Cindry pulls at it and the thing comes off in two solid pieces. His neck is bare, he’s free. It’s been so long since he’s felt this that he can hardly contain his excitement.

“Are you sure he’s out? I think I saw him move.” The doctor says suddenly over the intercom.

“I’ll dose him again, he took more anaesthetic to put out for the surgery after all.” Cindry comments. This time Zoro feels the prick of the needle in his skin for real as cold sensation spreads through his body and drags him into sleep with one thought on his mind: Nami could be alive.


	11. Chapter 11

“Okay… that all looks good. Now to see if he can move. The stimulant should take effect soon. Ah, here we go, he’s waking up again now.” Doctor Hogback’s voice comes down to him. Zoro feels the pull of a needle exiting his skin in his arm, it’s unpleasant enough to urge him into wakefulness.

Muzzily Zoro opens his eyes. He is first greeted by the sensation of tightness and inflexibility around his neck and he knows without checking that his collar is back on, he tilts his head and feels the weight of it hanging at his throat. He blinks a few times to focus his eyes and struggles to push back his control from the drugs clouding his veins. Sanji swims into view before him, crouched down with a worried little smile. 

“Hey, your cast is off.” Sanji informs him cheerfully, his blonde hair sweeping over his face as he leans over towards him. 

Yes, but my collar is back on. He thinks unhappily. Why did Cindry tell him all of that about his collar and the code just to drug him and put his collar back on? And what about Nami? Feeling confused and drugged up he looks blearily around, he’s back in the room that he and Sanji slept in.

He sits up awkwardly in the bed and looks down at his arm, halfway down his arm is a big square bandage taped down onto his skin but as Sanji said, his cast is gone. Curiously he peels the white taped on bandage up and looks at his arm. Instead of the burnt crater that Ace had accidentally gifted him there’s a wedge of redness. He peers at it a little closer to see that it’s actually muscle and skin, the replacement flesh itself is synthetic looking and clear, the redness is from his own blood flowing through the fake muscle. He sees that his own skin is already starting to heal over the edges of it at a faster rate than he would have expected. He squashes the childish impulse to poke at the fake muscle and skin, it probably wouldn’t help and no doubt his doctor would shout at him for it. 

Zoro folds the bandage back down thoughtfully and looks at his hand resting limp and untested on the bedspread. Part of him doesn’t want to try to move it, if he doesn’t try then he can’t discover that the surgery failed. He shoves that thought aside quickly, avoiding finding out is just as bad as it not working and he’s not a coward like that. 

With stiff muscles he curls his hand into a fist, it shakes slightly at the effort of being held closed. He relaxes and his hand opens somewhat on its own. That’s fine but it did that before when he had a hole in his arm, keeping his hand clenched hadn’t been the problem as it wasn’t the inside of his arm that was damaged but the outside. 

Carefully he straightens his fingers. Instantly the burn of exhausted muscle shoots through his arm, especially through the section that had been replaced. He winces in discomfort and tries again, pulling each finger up and then down in turn in a sort of slow wave that runs along his hand. The muscle in his arm is trembling from the effort and with an exhausted huff he relaxes his arm completely. His arm works again, it’s weak and sore but it works.

“It works… Thank you doctor.” Sanji breathes in relief, his hand coming up to the back of Zoro’s neck and leaning down to rest his forehead on the crown of Zoro’s head. 

“You’re okay.” Sanji whispers, perhaps to himself, perhaps to Zoro. 

“I’m okay.” Zoro agrees quietly. 

“You will need to do these exercises, I’ve listed them all here. If you follow these instructions and take the right medication you should recover all of your former strength. I’ll require a follow up visit next week and another three weeks after that. Another resounding success for the greatest doctor in the world, hah!” Doctor Hogback laughs loudly to himself, his arms akimbo on his fat hips. Zoro is pleased with the results too but the doctor doesn’t have to crow like that. With a fleeting gesture the doctor flicks a printed page or two of instructions onto Zoro’s bed and instructs Cindry to take pictures of his healing arm. Wordlessly Cindry obliges as the doctor sweeps out of the room self importantly. 

“You can sign his discharge papers if you like now Sir Prince, they’re down at the front desk.” Cindry says coolly, not looking up from Zoro’s healing arm as she takes pictures. 

“I’ll go do that. I’ll see you in a minute and we can get out of here, okay?” Sanji smiles at him and grabs his coat off of the back of a chair. He slides the fine woollen thing over his shoulders and slips his arms through the sleeves, with a flick of his collar and a click of his finely polished shoes he leaves. 

Cindry quickly folds the instructions about his surgery in half, grabs Zoro’s trousers from the chair next to the bed and presses them to his chest. She reaches into her pocket and drops Zoro’s three earrings into his hand along with a fifty beli note, lastly and with a look of importance on her face she presses a small black device into his palm. It’s no bigger than Zoro’s thumb and as he looks down at it he sees a small number pad on it. 

“Press it just here.” Cindry says, tapping the front of his collar, just to the left of his gold padlock. He knows from years of wearing his collar that there’s a seam there, he’s felt the frustrating notch with his nails thousands upon thousands of times. He’s hoped that it would pop open or come apart there, he’s wished for it fervently with his every breath and earlier Cindry took it apart just there with this device that she’s just put in his hand.

“You remember the code?” She asks seriously. 

“5435.” Zoro answers instantly, staring down at the device in his palm. As if he could forget the code to his freedom, the code to being his own man again, the code to get this goddamn collar off and get back to Luffy, Ace and maybe even Nami. He could be free!

“Take care of your wound. Now, go out of the door here, go left and down the stairs. There’s a fire escape. Get out of the building, change your clothes, take the collar off and run. That code is only good for three more hours and the longer you have it on the further they can track you, but they won’t start looking until you take it off. Now go.” Cindry says all in one breath, her blue eyes urgent. 

Zoro stares up at her for a second, frozen. This won’t work for her, she can’t get her own collar off like this but she can help him escape and he won’t get a chance like this again. All of a sudden it’s as if the world comes back online and a jolt of energy runs through him. He leaps from the bed, pulls his pyjama trousers off and throws his trousers on then and there, damned with modesty. He shoves his earrings in the pocket along with the instructions and the money. He pauses at the door and looks back at Cindry, did she help Nami like she’s helping him? 

“Thank you.” He breathes and rushes from the door. 

He’s standing in the hospital corridor and, realising his mistake he glances around warily and is glad that he did so as he spies a flash of pink hair. His heart leaps in panic and he dashes around a corner. Slowly Zoro cranes his head to see the reflection of the hallway he just fled in a window of a door opposite him. There’s no mistaking the pink hair, the leather mask and the aura of evil, it’s Sanji’s father. He needs to leave and he needs to do it now, he does not want to be caught and more than anything he doesn’t want to be caught by him. He turns to leave when a voice behind him stops him.

“Father? What are you doing here?” Sanji’s voice echoes down the corridor. Zoro’s body screeches to a grinding halt.

“There you are. I came to see just what you’d done to the nice gift I got you.” Spandam says in an icy tone. 

“Done to him? I didn’t do anything to Zoro, it was an accident. But he’s fine now, he’s just been discharged in fact, I just went to sign the papers.” Sanji answers in a clearly unhappy tone, the blonde is probably at his limit of people implying that he’s an abusive bastard for one day.

“Look, I don’t care what you do to him, slap him around to keep him in line if you have to, it usually works. Just don’t damage him so publicly that other people know, don’t you even think about what things like this could do to the company’s image? Hogback told me that there were police here sniffing about and asking questions!” Spandam says scornfully. 

“I didn’t hurt him, and the police aren’t going to cause any problems. As for the company I don’t think-” Sanji begins irritably.

“No, you never think do you?! I- wait. You said that you just signed his discharge papers? Alone?” Spandam says suddenly. Zoro’s blood runs cold, that was the diversion that Cindry had used to get Sanji to leave the room so he could escape, he was seriously running out of time here!

“Yes, they’re here. I told you Zoro is fine.” Sanji says with a rustle of paper.

“You left him alone?!” Spandam gasps in horror. Zoro backs away from the corner as he hears the door to his room being wrenched open so hard that it bangs on the wall, he has to get out of here, he has to go.

“He’s gone! He’s escaped! We’re going to have to have him chased down, the media will be all over this!” Spandam shrieks in horror. 

“Father, Zoro’s probably just-” Sanji begins with a sigh, he’s cut off though suddenly by a loud clear sounding slap. 

“You stupid boy! FIND HIM! Do it now!” Spandam yells. 

Panic overtakes Zoro like a demon, visions of being caught and chased down run through his mind and fuel his feet. He remembers everyone who ever exploited him or took advantage of him, many of his lecturers, Cabaji especially, he remembers every prospective master that came to the institute and looked at him like he was a piece of meat. All of them chase him, hot on his heels ready to drag him back to a life he can’t stand. 

So he runs.

He runs down corridors and hallways, ducking into the fire escape he runs down the stairs, skipping every other step with his heart in his throat as he runs. He can’t be caught, he can’t! As he emerges on the floor below he slows down his pace and tries to look casual, he doesn’t need the staff stopping him. He knows full well that a crazed looking mate sprinting around the hospital will attract the wrong kind of attention, he tries to look casual as he walks.

In his left hand he clutches the small black device that holds his freedom. Should he ditch his collar in the hospital and then escape out of the building so that they won’t have an idea about his direction or should he run further and then ditch it? Cindry said that they won’t look for him until his collar registers as being off when it shouldn’t be, but if Sanji’s father is already here and looking for him then it’s a bit of a moot point. With the thought of Lord Spandam the sound of Sanji being slapped rings clear through his mind. He shakes it off, Sanji can more than handle himself, he’s been doing it for years. 

Yes… Sanji had been crushingly lonely and unhappy for years, kept in his big lonely house by a threat against the people he loved by a man he hated. Sanji would surely be punished for losing him, and whether that punishment would involve harming Zeff or the rest of Sanji’s real family he didn’t know. He stills in the hallway as people flow around him. 

Sanji… Sanji was just as trapped and caged as he was. But… he could be free, it wasn’t his fault that Sanji was trapped too. Besides Sanji wasn’t trapped like his was, his every move wasn’t digitally logged, he wasn’t walking around with something on his throat that could kill him at the push of a button. No, he needs to be free of his collar. He opens his palm and stares down at the little black device. He wants to be free but should the cost of his freedom be paid by Sanji and those he loves? Was that fair? 

They were already looking for him though, he couldn’t turn back now could he? How would he explain where he’d gone?

To his left a coffee machine chimes happily, selling its wares. Numbly he puts his hand in his pocket and pulls the items in it out. His earrings, the money and the little black device. His earrings represented to him his past, his strength and his honour, values that he tried to reflect in his swordsmanship. Was it strong or honourable to leave a good man like Sanji behind to his fate? To leave him alone again like he had been?

He is reminded of what Koshiro used to tell him. When he was a child he was obsessed with beating Kuina, he almost hated her for being so much better than him all the time, no matter how much he trained or how hard he worked. Koshiro said that he had to remember his overall goal, to be better, and that beating Kuina was just a part of that, not the end. He wanted to be free and there was no way that he could do that with his collar on, but was that his end goal? Did a free man just run and hide? Surely someone who was truly free could do what they wanted and be with and protect those closest to them. A free man wouldn’t just throw someone else in trouble to buy a little escape. 

“Three hours.” He breathes. He can go home, convince Sanji to come with him or warn him to leave on his own, then he can be free. He’s been in chains since he was a kid, a few more hours in them won’t hurt. He shoves his earrings and the device back into his pocket and feeds the note into the machine, buying an overpriced coffee. 

He takes the long route back up to his room and manages to get there just as Sanji arrives back panting. Spandam doesn’t quite have his back to him, but he’s turned at a three quarters angle to Zoro so he isn’t noticed him return.

“You couldn’t find him?!” Spandam snarls at Sanji, his lips curling back nastily.

“No I- Zoro!” Sanji exclaims, looking up at him in shock as he spots him getting closer with the coffee in his left hand, his right was too weak to hold it.

“Master, my Lord.” Zoro says smoothly, nodding to Sanji and Spandam each in recognition. 

“I apologise that I took so long, I wanted to get you this, you said that you were thirsty. I didn’t mean to take so long but I got lost. I’m so sorry, please, accept this.” Zoro apologises humbly, bowing and handing Sanji’s drink over to him. He prays that Sanji will catch on in time.

“That’s… that’s so sweet of you Zoro. You scared me for a minute there.” Sanji laughs weakly, playing along. Sanji hadn’t mentioned anything about being thirsty or wanting coffee but he doesn’t say this and instead takes the cup from his hand. 

“I did not mean to trouble you master, I sincerely apologise.” Zoro says with a serenely blank expression on his face, one that he’d perfected over years at the institute. It’s a work of art really, blank enough so that he can’t be read but with enough smile and calm to look sincerely vapid without danger of being accused of being mocking. Sanji though has clearly not had as much experience as him as he looks too suspiciously angelic as he sips his coffee. 

“Well, father, thank you for stopping by. I’m sure that Zoro is touched by your concern.” Sanji says innocently as he sips at his coffee. 

“I am humbled my lord.” Zoro says smoothly bowing to Lord Spandam. He hates himself more than a little for conforming like this but he tells himself that it’s for Sanji’s protection, as if the red hand shaped mark still visible on the blonde’s fair skinned cheek wasn’t enough of a reminder. 

Spandam looks from him to Sanji, although Zoro is careful enough to avert his eyes ever so slightly, it’s bad manners for someone like him to look directly at someone like Lord Spandam. He’d forgotten how taxing all of this mate stuff was and just how lucky he was to have someone like Sanji that he could just be himself around. Spandam clearly isn’t buying their shoddy story, not that Zoro blames him, but he doesn’t know what’s really going on and that’s good enough for Zoro. 

Zoro keeps the obedient look on his face, he adds a hint of eagerness as if trying to suppress desperation for Sanji to give him another order. The whole process makes him feel sick and he’s certain that coming back for someone as special as Sanji who he didn’t have to be like this with is the right thing to do, someone like him doesn’t deserve to just be abandoned without a word. 

“I’ll see you at the board meeting which you will be attending.” Spandam speaks finally, his tone to Sanji threatening as if daring and goading Sanji to refuse.

“Certainly.” Sanji mumbles into his drink, earning him a scowl from his father but no further reprimands. 

Lord Spandam glares at them both before striding off down the hospital corridor. As soon as he’s out of sight both Zoro and Sanji breathe a sigh of relief. Zoro sighs and lets his posture return to normal instead of having his shoulders back almost uncomfortably and his back in the ramrod straight formal way that he’d always been taught to show in those situations. 

“I hate him.” Sanji growls and drinks the last of his coffee in one scalding gulp before throwing it in a nearby bin. 

“Let’s just get home quickly, I need to talk to you.” Zoro says quietly. Sanji nods and they both make their way out of the hospital together at a quick pace. Sanji’s shiny blue car is parked outside the hospital, unusually though no one is sitting inside at the wheel and Sanji gets into the drivers seat to drive them himself. Zoro shrugs mentally and figures that no one had any idea when they would be getting out, and it’d be unfair and a little stupid to make Usopp or Franky wait in the car for them when Sanji could apparently just drive himself. 

Sanji turns the key in the ignition and, after flicking a few important looking switches, takes off vertically. The blonde flicks a few more things and they change into cruising through the sky. For a moment Zoro manages to forget about Nami, about his collar and about the device in his pocket and his escape attempt and just looks out of the window to enjoy flying. As he peeks over the edge of the window to look at the ground whipping away beneath them he thinks that flying will never get old. 

Reality comes back fairly quickly though and Zoro looks over at Sanji in the drivers seat. The cook is tense, that much is clear, Zoro has every suspicion in fact that any encounter with any member of Sanji’s family sets the other man on edge. He can hardly blame him. He tries for a moment to take in everything about the man, the way his hair flows, the paleness of his skin, his long thin fingers. This is the man that Zoro has given up his best shot at freedom for. Sanji looks in his direction slightly to track the view of another flying car, evidently to make sure that it’s not going anywhere near them, the change in angle is slight but its just enough to showcase the angry red mark on the other man’s face. 

Without thinking Zoro gingerly reaches over and touches his thumb to it, the mark has lost its distinctive five fingered shape and is now just a glowing red mark on the blonde’s otherwise flawless cheekbone. Sanji hisses slightly and draws away from his touch, whether that’s from pain or from the humiliation Zoro doesn’t know but he takes the hint and drops his hand.

He looks forward out of the windscreen and says the very thing that he doesn’t want to have to say, but feels compelled to anyway.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened.” He says, a statement not a question. Sanji at least doesn’t deny it or pretend that he doesn’t know what Zoro is talking about.

“I can handle it.” He says dismissively instead. The cook keeps his eyes on where they’re flying and doesn’t look at Zoro.

“That’s not what I said.” Zoro points out, trying to remain gentle in his tone but it’s hard when all he can think about is how much he wants to find Spandam, get his hands on him and crush the life from his body. He wants to destroy the man who would hurt someone like Sanji who is so much better than he is, so much more noble and kind and so much stronger too. Sanji could kick Spandam’s ass, that much Zoro is sure of, but he doesn’t out of fear for those he loves. Spandam uses manipulation to control his strong son and Zoro hates him for it.

Sanji remains silent, not answering, not denying, not doing anything but driving. 

“When you were a child…” Zoro starts, not really wanting to ask but needing to know.

“Very rarely.” Sanji cuts in tersely. The blonde closes his eyes for a long second and deliberately breathes some tension out of his body before opening his eyes and continuing to stare straight ahead.

“My mother would always get between me and my father. So it was only ever when I made him really angry and she wasn’t there. I…. I thought that it meant that he cared for her, even if he hated me. I thought that it meant that he didn’t want to upset her, and that he’d not hit her in anger if he couldn’t get to me.” Sanji says, his long fingers tightening so much on the steering wheel of the car that his knuckles turn white.

“I hope he never hit her too, but I’ll never know I guess.” Sanji adds bitterly.

Zoro doesn’t know what to say so he stays silent. Maybe Spandam hit Sanji’s mother, maybe he didn’t. But seeing as how Spandam is a horrible piece of shit Zoro isn’t convinced that Sanji’s mother loved him, which brings the unpleasant idea that she’d never have agreed to have sex with him. Not that her consent matters legally, but it does matter. And, well, Sanji is here so clearly Spandam didn’t care much for that. If the man’s a rapist and the kind of man who hits small children it hardly is a commendation to his character to be able to say that at least he didn’t hit Sanji’s mother – if that is indeed true. 

Zoro’s mind wants to crawl away from the idea, he wants to go into the blissful ignorance that Sanji had before Zoro had ruined it for him. The idea that mates were happy and lived with people that, okay admittedly owned them, but loved them dearly. He knows that it’s not true and that he’s probably one of the few mates who would willingly have sex with their master even if they weren’t their master. Not that Sanji has shown any interest in that, much to Zoro’s paradoxical approval and frustration, because it’s great that Sanji doesn’t want to exploit him but good god, it was torture being around someone as good looking as Sanji without getting any. 

 

When they pull into the garage they’re alone in the room, Franky must be elsewhere. Sanji doesn’t look in any great hurry to get out of the car, in fact he leans forward and rests his head against the steering wheel. 

“I hated that, seeing you the way you talked to my father. It was too formal, it was like you were a zombie. As if, I don’t know, like Doctor Hogback had put some other person in your body while you were asleep.” Sanji groans, propping his chin on the steering wheel. The very idea makes Zoro smirk at its ridiculousness. 

“I’m supposed to be like that with you too master.” Zoro points out emphasising the word.

“Ugh, don’t. And don’t call me that, you know I hate it.” Sanji says darkly.

Zoro’s hand rises to his collar of its own accord. His fingers brush the heavy padlock there and find the ridge in the stiff collar, the one that he can now open.

“What if… what if I wasn’t your mate? And what if you weren’t my master?” Zoro asks quietly. Sanji sits up in his seat properly then, his face marked by surprise as he looks at him.

“Zoro, you know that isn’t what you are to me, you know that I’m not your master.” Sanji starts, but Zoro shakes his head, Sanji’s got this all wrong.

“I don’t mean it like that. What if this wasn’t locked around my neck and you didn’t wear this?” Zoro persists, shoving his hand into Sanji’s shirt and pulling the golden key on its golden chain out.

“What if we were just us?” He says looking up at Sanji with the key still clasped in his hand.

There is something deep and important going on in Sanji’s blue eyes but the blonde quickly locks it down before Zoro can identify it. The other man breaks his gaze, looking down at the golden padlock at Zoro’s neck that he’d put there himself not all that long ago.

“I wish… I wish that was true Zoro. You don’t know how much.” Sanji says, his voice tight and controlled. 

Zoro hesitates for the smallest of moments before putting his left hand in his pocket and pulling out the black device, he can trust Sanji. He holds it out before Sanji, it sits neatly in his palm, innocuous black plastic and small number keys not doing it justice for the power it has.

“Cindry gave me this, it’s what she unlocked my collar with. I know the code, I can open my collar with it.” Zoro explains holding it out between them. His right arm shudders with the effort of holding his hand with Sanji’s key in up, his synthetic muscle still weak, Zoro drops his arm to his side but keeps the other hand with the device in up.

“You…” Sanji gasps and pauses for a second.

“You… weren’t getting me shitty machine coffee.” Sanji says quietly, clearly catching onto the reason behind Zoro’s lie earlier. 

“Like you wanted cheap coffee. I just couldn’t leave without… I don’t know, without saying something. And I couldn’t just leave you with that monster of a father.” Zoro scowls remembering the sound of the harsh slap, as if he could forget with Sanji’s still red cheekbone glaring at him.

“Come with me. Leave this stupid house, the father that you hate and the company that you want nothing to do with. Just be Sanji and leave “Sir Prince” behind.” Zoro blurts out on impulse. He hadn’t thought of it properly before but the idea of living somewhere else, somewhere he’d be free was great, but the thought of living there with Sanji… Perhaps he might wake up in the morning in a cheap apartment in some anonymous country and find Sanji cooking them breakfast, maybe he could sleep on his front without his collar in the way with his arm thrown around Sanji’s middle and maybe Sanji might love him. Maybe they could be okay together in a new life. The very thought makes something warm and delicate start to bloom in Zoro’s chest. Sanji though just looks surprised.

Sanji opens his mouth and for a second or two just leaves it like that, as if he’s forgotten how to talk and for a moment Zoro thinks that he’s just going to say yes. He thinks that Sanji will wrench the key from around his own neck, watch as Zoro opens his own collar and throws it out of the window. He thinks that Sanji would turn the car back on and speed away from the collar on the floor that would no doubt be blinking a message of Zoro’s escape to the institute, but by the time that they got it he and Sanji would be gone. He thinks that they could drive and not stop until they could barely keep their eyes open, then they’ll pull over and curl up on the back seat together after sleepily having sex for the first time. He wants all of that to be true.

“I can’t.” Sanji says instead, breaking Zoro’s heart a little with the words.

“I can’t, what about Zeff and Franky? What about Usopp? I can’t just leave them all, you know my father would take anything that I did out on them.” Sanji says regretfully, looking down at the golden key hanging against the front of his shirt, chaining him as much as Zoro.

“Usopp and Franky can move and get new jobs, or escape with us. Zeff can pack up and start a new restaurant elsewhere, somewhere your father can’t find him!” Zoro insists. Of course Sanji would protest, he’s being held here by the threat of people that he cares about. He just needs to realise that he really can leave.

“Zeff poured everything that he had into that restaurant! I can’t just demand that he abandon it at a moment’s notice!” Sanji exclaims, his voice angry and his expression conflicted.

“Zeff poured everything that he had into you! If he knew that you had a chance to be free-” Zoro argues but Sanji cuts him off sharply.

“Oh and you know this from meeting him fleetingly on all of two occasions do you?!” Sanji yells at him.

“Fine, but I know you! Or I thought I did! You said that you wanted to be free from all of this and I’m offering you a chance to have that and you’re turning it down! Maybe you like your cage a little too much!” he accuses angrily. He wrenches the car door open and pulls himself out, furiously shoving the device back in his pocket. He slams the car door behind him hard enough to make the car rock. His face reddens in anger and humiliation, he risked his perfect chance to escape for this?!

“Zoro, wait! That’s not true, I hate this life but if I leave and it doesn’t go perfectly I’ll be abandoning people that I love to pain and misery! I can’t do that!” Sanji pleads, clambering out of the drivers side and rounding the car to get to him.

Zoro stays still with his back to Sanji. He feels betrayed that Sanji won’t just warn people to run and come with him, and if he’s honest with himself he feels a little rejected too. Sanji steps closer to him and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. To Zoro’s irritation with himself he relaxes a little at the other man’s touch.

“It doesn’t mean that you can’t go though, take your collar off and run. Take my car, I’ll give you money, you can get as far away from here as possible and start a new life.” Sanji says quietly to him.

Zoro’s hand grazes his pocket where the device is, the key to his freedom. He could do it, he could go right now. Then he remembers the sharp slap against Sanji’s face, the blonde’s lonely life of not knowing if people really like him or have ulterior motives for being nice. He remembers how Sanji’s loved ones lives are held in threat against him. 

Spandam slapped Sanji when he thought Sanji had accidentally let him escape, what would he do if he actually did escape? How would he make Sanji suffer? What would Sanji have to endure for him?

“What about your father?” Zoro asks quietly.

“I can handle it.” Sanji says firmly.

He clenches his fist shut, once again, he hadn’t asked if Sanji could handle it. He had no doubt that Sanji could handle any number of things but he didn’t want him to have to. He clenches his fist and shakes his head.

“If I leave I’ll be abandoning someone I care about to pain and misery.” He repeats turning back around to face the surprised blonde.

“Either… either we both go right now, or we both stay.” He states simply. He pulls the device out again and holds it out to Sanji, it’s his choice. Sanji’s downcast eyes and the biting of his lip tells Zoro all he needs to know. He puts it back in his pocket.

“So we stay.” He says firmly. 

He reaches up and touches the red mark on the blonde’s face, he rubs his thumb across it and this time Sanji lets him.

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Zoro says gently.

At that Sanji bats Zoro’s hand away from his face and grabs a fistful of Zoro’s shirt. He’s suddenly yanked close to the cook and the blonde wastes no time in assaulting his mouth. Sanji’s tongue is quick and clever and utterly melts Zoro’s bones to feel. He backs Sanji up against the door of the car and grinds their hips together earning him a completely filthy groan from Sanji right into his mouth. Sanji’s hand snakes its way into Zoro’s hair and grabs a painful fistful of it that registers just on the right side of the pleasure pain barrier for Zoro. He works his knee between Sanji’s legs and kisses the other man a little more deeply. 

He’s completely and utterly lost in the sensation of Sanji that he only registers the interruption when he feels Sanji stiffen, and not in the way that he’d like.

“Ohmygod! I’m sorry!” Usopp yelps from the door and shuts it behind him with a bang. 

Zoro pulls away out of some embarrassed reflex at being caught and by the time his brain has mustered enough functioning cells to conclude ‘fuck embarrassed, I want Sanji’ the blonde has already straightened his clothes with a red face and slid away.

“Ah… I’m… glad that your arm is okay after all.” Sanji coughs in embarrassment. Zoro figures that Sanji would know that his hand is fine as he’d only just been trying to shove said hand up the blonde’s shirt to feel him up.

He really wants to just go back where they left off but the mood is probably broken now and Sanji clearly is trying to pretend that that didn’t just happen. So he sighs and goes along with it.

“Yeah, me too.” He agrees. Then he remembers that his swords were thrown in the back of Sanji’s car as they went to the hospital. Since making out with Sanji is apparently no longer an option he decides to go and retrieve his swords. As he snags them from their hiding place on the floor of the back of the car he wonders whether or not Ace and Luffy are okay, certainly the police wouldn’t be looking for them, not without making a goddamn massive deductive leap anyway. Luffy was probably just worried but Ace no doubt felt as guilty as hell, as well as being worried. Zoro had been worried about the state of his arm too and the fear of never using three swords again too, he’d been put out of his worry but they hadn’t. 

He stands up thoughtfully and taps Wado’s hilt against his lips, he should go and see them. He’d have to ask Sanji of course but if he doesn’t they’ll definitely worry. He knows what Ace is like, a few years back Ace had kicked a tree hard enough to nearly break it and when Luffy had gone tearing past it the whole thing had fallen over and crushed him. If he’d been a normal person he’d probably be dead but being made of rubber has its advantages, he was still pretty hurt for a few weeks and Ace was inconsolable. Ace wasn’t good at accepting that he’d made a mistake and that someone had forgiven him, he always seemed to need to turn that rage outwards. He got grumpy and moody, taking it out on everyone else and clearly hating himself every second. No doubt he’d be doing the same now, he kind of pitied Luffy for having to be in the same building as him. 

He should definitely see them and tell them that he was okay.

“What’s that look for? What are you thinking about in that marimo head of yours?” Sanji questions him, leaning on the roof of the car.

“Just thinking about Ace and Luffy.” Zoro answers with a shrug.

“I was thinking that I should go and see them, they’re probably really worried.” He adds as he threads his belt through the back of his swords and when he looks up he’s surprised to see that Sanji has an expression on his face like he’s just eaten a lemon or something rotten.

“You’re going to see that asshole?” Sanji says accusatorially.

“Yeah, you did say that I could see who I wanted remember?” Zoro points out, in fact it had been one of the first things that Sanji had said to him on his first day.

Sanji scowls and turns away from him, resting his back on the car door and folding his arms huffily. 

“He’s an asshole, just because I said you could see who you liked doesn’t mean that I’m happy about that. They tried to kidnap you and murder me!” Sanji argues with that scowl still fixed in his stupid eyebrows. 

“They tried to rescue me and… okay, yeah, they did try to murder you. But they didn’t actually do it, they’re really nice. Besides, they wouldn’t try to kill you if they knew you!” Zoro reasons with the other man.

“That makes that better?! He tried to burn my head off!!!” the blonde shouts. 

Zoro groans to himself, Sanji isn’t going to let this little attempted murder thing go. He’s no idea why, he’s as much as said that if their positions were reversed and Sanji had been convinced that someone was harming him he’d hurt them back. Hell, he already had, first that guy in the alley that busted Zoro’s nose and second he’d all but ruined Cabaji’s life. If anything Sanji should be annoyed but understanding of Ace, it’s not like he had any other reason to dislike him was it? It was odd though, Sanji seemed to dislike Ace a lot more than he disliked Luffy, although there was that whole fire thing. 

“He’s great when you get to know him, really. He’s strong and brave, really loyal too, he’s amazing.” Zoro tries to explain but if anything Sanji’s expression only gets more and more angry, as if the better Zoro tries to say that Ace is the more Sanji hates him. It doesn’t make sense!

“Whatever.” Sanji grumbles, stalking off and leaving Zoro alone by the car. The blonde slams the door after him. Zoro is practically drowning in confusion, how did they go from making out to Sanji throwing a hissy fit over nothing and storming off? What’s going on?

 

When Zoro emerges from the garage no one is around, clearly the embarrassed Usopp has fled and Sanji has probably run off to go into his confusing hysteria in privacy. Zoro likes Sanji, he really does, but sometimes the man completely baffles him. Still, he’d made his choice, he wasn’t going to leave him behind, no matter how confusing he was.

He makes his way to the room and falls down on his bed, it’s been a long and confusing couple of days. With a groan he sits up, his earrings are stabbing him in the leg anyway. He sits up on his bed and focuses as he threads the earrings through his ear. He stares absently into the distance as he tries to coordinate his clumsy fingers, it’s only when he realises that he’s staring at a black and white book that he pauses. It’s The Princess Bride, the one that Robin had leant him. He snaps the last earring shut and goes over to the table to pick the book up, he falls into his chair with it in his hand and sighs. 

Nami would know what to do here, she was always the one he went to for advice, she would understand Sanji’s confusing actions. She always was smarter than him. And perhaps she really was out there somewhere alive and waiting for him, no doubt if she knew that he’d passed up this chance to escape she’d hit him in the head and call him a moron. He misses her deeply with an ache in his chest that he’s not sure will ever heal unless he sees her again. But perhaps reading their book might soothe him, all the memories of reading it together, of fighting and acting out the best scenes would make him feel close to her again.

He holds the book in his hands, bends it slightly and lets it go a little so that the pages whip from one side of the book to another. A blur of grey and white flashes through his vision as the words fly past far too fast for him to even recognise. He frowns, he swears that he saw a flash of all black in there. Slower this time he fans the pages again and- there! There was a black page in the book!

This time he flicks through the middle of the book page by page until he find it. Page 169 has turned black, someone has gone over every line on the page except for four words. Zoro knows the book cover to cover so he knows what this page is about. Princess Buttercup, who was always acted by Nami, much to her distain as she always wanted to be Westley instead, has been kidnapped. She was taken by three men, the giant, the Spaniard who is the world’s greatest fencer and the Sicilian a master tactician. However, at this point the man in black who is secretly Westley has stolen her back, defeating one adversary at a time to rescue her from certain death. On this page the even Prince Humperdink is tracking his bride, not knowing if she is alive or dead.

He knows all of this, he’s read it many times before. But there are only four words left on this page that aren’t blacked out and unreadable. He reads them aloud.

“The Princess is alive!”

Zoro shuts the book and stares into space. This was their book, it always was, their story. Others at the institute knew of it, some of them joined in but it was always their thing and their way of coping with their lives. No one else could know that, certainly not Robin whom this book belonged to. Why would a woman with a clear love of books vandalise one like this? She wouldn’t, and she wouldn’t know the significance of those words, she wouldn’t know who the Princess really was –Nami. Which left only one conclusion. Nami had done this. Nami had vandalised the book to pass on her message that she was alive, she knew somehow that he would go to Robin’s and pick out their book and find her message.

There was no doubt in Zoro’s mind now, Nami was alive.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: So sorry for the delay on this one your guys, this chapter took ages to write and just wouldn’t come out right. On top of that I’m leaving my job and having to train my replacement at work, my grandmother’s gone into hospital with a chest infection and blood problems (she’s out now thank goodness) and someone tried to steal my bike this week. All in all it’s been pretty hectic and I’ve either not had time to write or not been able to do so well. The fact that this chapter is out at all now is totally due to narcissistic ninny on Livejournal who beta’d for me. Anyway, thank you all for putting up with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter! 

 

Zoro isn’t a stupid man. He knows that from true things you can work out things that you don’t know. So here is what he knows. 

One, The Princess Bride was his and Nami’s story as children, they were forever quoting it at each other and other people. It was their thing.

Two, whilst other people probably knew that he and Nami were always quoting lines at each other and laughing most would not know the book themselves, nor would they necessarily know its importance to them.

Conclusion: any message left to him in the language of The Princess Bride was almost certainly from Nami herself to him. A way of communicating that would not be understood by anyone else whose hands the book happened to fall into. It was a pretty damn good code.

Fact number three, he borrowed The Princess Bride from Robin.

Four, Robin owned a massive library and was clearly incredibly wealthy. Thus, she was unlikely to buy a common book like The Princess Bride second hand so it was almost certainly new when she bought it and added it to her collection.

Five, someone like Robin who was clearly so devoted to books and reading would have a high respect for books and would be unlikely to vandalise one at all, let alone randomly.

Conclusion: the book was likely unmarked and new when Robin bought it and it was unlikely to have been her that left the message, so someone else must have done it. That person could only be Nami. So, Nami must have access to Robin’s library to leave such a message in the book for him, knowing that he would be likely to take or read that book for sentimental reasons.

Final conclusion: Nami was most definitely alive and, if she did leave him a message, was almost certainly watching Robin’s library for any reply from him. 

So, he should really send her a message back. But what? As wonderful a book as The Princess Bride was it was hardly a great medium for telling someone that you were okay and demanding to know why the hell someone didn’t let you know sooner that they weren’t dead! Moreover the message had to be clear, Nami shouldn’t be able to misinterpret what he was saying, so the message had to be simple and clear. 

With his brilliant plan set in his mind he re-reads the book with a view to taking any sentence that describes his situation. Later in the evening Sanji sticks his head around the door with a worried expression on his face and offers him dinner, Zoro waves him away though, he’s too distracted in his task of finding a message to get to Nami to eat. Sanji seems a little worried and unhappy but dutifully leaves him alone.

He’s torn, he wants to demand to know why Nami didn’t tell him that she was alive, he can’t think of any reason for her not to have done so. Even if her plan was to free him when he got his own master she could have let him know through Ace and Luffy if she thought that going near the institute was too dangerous. She knew how much he loved her, why would she just leave him like that? He tortured himself endlessly from the moment he heard of her death until, oddly, the moment he confessed it to Sanji. He pauses with his book in his lap and remembers being arched over Sanji’s body feeling as if he was falling apart inside, as if all his grief was finally washing out of him, like Sanji had just pulled the plug. He can’t help but wonder if Sanji knows how monumental that moment was for him, he never spoke about Nami, not even to Luffy. He’d tried of course but he just clammed up or got angry at himself or other people. Sanji was the first person that he’d really opened to about it. Perhaps even then he’d been able to sense that Sanji really was a good man. He touches his hand to his heart and remembers the feel of Sanji’s own hand there on his bare chest, telling him that he was still alive. He made the right choice by staying with him, but now he needs to get the other part of his heart back, the part that Nami has always lived in. She could be in trouble and he needs to be sure that she’s okay before he can relax again.

He needs to give her a message, a short one. But what? He flips through pages well into the night, trying to decide what to say. He realises that Nami of course is represented by Princess Buttercup in the story and he by Westley, it’s not hard to communicate like that. He wants to speak about Sanji to let Nami know about him, but they didn’t know Sanji as kids so he has no obvious character. Although making Sanji Prince the Prince in the story is the obvious move it leaves an obvious problem. Namely that in the book the Prince is the villain and all of the scenes that have Westley and the Prince in together are decidedly unpleasant. There’s no bit in The Princess Bride where the Prince and Westley didn’t expect to like each other but actually do because despite expectations the Prince is actually a stand up guy. Furthermore the Prince and Westley certainly don’t have the sort of relationship that Zoro wishes he and Sanji had and sort of do have. So it’s a little hard to pick. 

Eventually he compromises, choosing a line about the Prince spoken by the Princess and hopes that Nami will understand that he’s speaking for himself rather than as her. On page 161 he scrawls out with a blue pen all but one paragraph. 

“The Prince and I have never from the beginning lied to each other. He knows that I do not love him.”

That should do it. Nami needs to understand that Sanji isn’t bad, that Sanji does understand him and that they’re honest with each other, so when he tells her in person that she’ll believe him. It doesn’t really help that in the story the Prince is a liar and a sociopath but, well, he didn’t pick the book. 

His pen however hovers over the second sentence “he knows that I do not love him”. 

It had certainly started that way at Sanji’s breakfast table, when Sanji insisted that they were both entitled to keep living their separate lives and even sharing their beds with whomever they wanted. Neither of them expected any attention or affection from the other, Sanji knew that Zoro didn’t want him just because he’d been bought.

But… well, was that really still true?

This very day he’d given up freedom for Sanji and at Sanji’s invitation he’d crowded him against the side of his car and thoroughly kissed him until Usopp interrupted them. Stupid long nose.

Just what does he feel for Sanji? He’s not sure if it is love, that’s far too grand a statement but… well, they certainly weren’t platonic. On impulse he scrawls out the second line, leaving the only clear line to read:

“The Prince and I have never from the beginning lied to each other.”

He closes the book and sighs. Now he just needs to put it back in Robin’s library so that Nami can find it and read his message, for that he needs to get to Robin’s. Looking up he realises that it’s completely dark outside, the sun has long since set and it’s now clearly quite late. His bedside clock informs him that it’s gone midnight in fact. He opens his bedroom door and is surprised to see a sliver of light coming from the direction of Sanji’s office and leaving a lit trail across the hallway carpet right to Zoro’s feet. 

On bare feet he treads the plush carpet silently and appears at the door. Sanji is surrounded by a mountain of paperwork, some of which has the institute’s insignia on it. He must still be working on a way to prove that making him a mate is illegal, it’s sweet really. A sentimental smile works its way onto his face and he feels a little more confident about crossing that line out in the book. 

Sanji doesn’t look sentimental like Zoro feels, he looks depressed and filled with self-loathing, it looks like the more he reads the more he hates himself. Perhaps he’s starting to realise that his mission is impossible, perhaps he’s regretting not leaving with him earlier. Zoro leans on the door slightly, making it creak and snapping Sanji’s surprised gaze up to him.

“Zoro!” Sanji exclaims, leaping from his desk chair and running over to him, almost like some big overexcited puppy. 

“Are you hungry? You missed dinner, I can make you something now if you want. Or we have some left over or-” Sanji babbles, clearly worried about him. As if he was just going to faint from missing one meal.

“I’m fine, I’m just surprised you’re still up is all. Working hard?” Zoro smiles at the other man. Sanji’s face falls a little and the blonde looks over his shoulder at the desk with some trepidation on his face. 

“I hate it, I’m not sure that anything I do will make any difference. It’s this stupid company board meeting, everyone there acts as if having a little compassion makes you a fool, never mind if you try to get them to do the right thing!” Sanji fumes.

“Ah, I’d forgotten your father insisted on that board meeting. I’d thought you were doing stuff with the institute instead of his company, not that I’d recommend that as any less pointless and frustrating.” He says with a sigh. He looks over Sanji’s shoulder at the paper on his desk, it sucks that Sanji is in such a frustrating position, with his money he should be able to do what he wants and change things but it seems as if that view was too simplistic.

“Would you mind if we went to see Robin tomorrow if the board meeting isn’t then?” He asks suddenly, looking at Sanji. He can play this off as an attempt to cheer the blonde up and return his book and secret message at the same time. The blonde seems confused and disorientated, as if he had something else on his mind, he actually takes a moment or two to reply.

“Yeah, sure. Need new books?” Sanji asks curiously.

“Am I that transparent?” He asks with a smile, thankful that Sanji doesn’t know his real motives. 

“A little. I’ll send Robin a message and see if we can go tomorrow. I’d better finish this off and go to sleep. And… if you do get hungry, just let me know, please?” Sanji asks hopefully. 

“I’m fine, thanks.” He smiles back and heads back to his room. 

“Well if you change your mind, my room’s just there!” Sanji calls out after him, pointing to the next room, as if he doesn’t know where Sanji sleeps after all the nights he’s spend here.

“Yeah, I know!” Zoro laughs and shuts the room.

He leans on the shut door for a moment before he gets undressed, being careful of his healing arm. He really doesn’t have to keep his theory about Nami secret, but in part he feels like he’s already shared too much about her with him. More prominent though is the fear that perhaps he’s just deluding himself, perhaps all his logical thought is just leading him to what he wants to believe. If he told Sanji his real thoughts about her and he proved to be wrong well… he’s not sure that he could survive the heartbreak and the cook’s pity at the same time. He slides into clean pyjamas and into his bed. 

He curls up under the duvet and for the first time in a long time he has a fond memory of the institute. He remembers when he was young and shared a room with Nami, he remembers being a kid with her and hiding under the bed sheets with a small stolen light to read by and their book and reading and laughing together as quietly as they could. He remembers the frightened little girl with the violet eyes and touching her hair and whispering that it’d be okay. He remembers promising to protect her and grinning at her when she promised the same back to him. He remembers falling asleep in bed with her feeling safe and happy in their own little space despite the world around them being so shitty. He reaches out under the bed sheet, driven by some childish instinct to close your eyes and wish really hard, but of course she isn’t there. 

He opens his eyes in the dark and reaches out to his bedside table, he picks the book up in his hand. Nami might not be here with him, but she was somewhere. Rolling back onto his side he slides the book under the other pillow and settles into sleep. He is going to find her again.

 

In the morning he wakes under the covers and late enough in the morning for the sun to be shining outside. He yawns and takes his hand off of the spine of his book and drags it through his hair. He lays in bed for a few moments and just listens to the house, if he strains his ears he can hear some distant clanking that suggests that Franky might be in the garage and there are the slight distant smells of cooking that hint at glorious food cooked by Sanji. He stretches contentedly, gets out of bed and is innocently heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth when it seems like his entire room explodes around him. 

The big glass window explodes into the room, shattering his peaceful awakening and raining large shards of glass and metal frame over the floor, thankfully the room is big enough that the area that Zoro is in is more or less untouched. He’s already backing towards his swords when the flash of a red shirt and the bounding laughter make him relax. 

Luffy barrels into his chest, toppling them both to the floor into a happy heap. Dealing with Luffy is always akin to dealing with a big rubber puppy and a whirlwind, he’s used to Luffy coming in and leaving a path of happy devastation through his otherwise calm existence.

“Luffy!” Zoro laughs into his friend’s hair, too happy to see his friend again to be angry about the window. The rubber boy’s bright bubbling laugher in his ear makes Zoro’s world instantly a better place.

“You’re okay!” Luffy exclaims happily, sitting up on Zoro’s hips and smiling down brightly at him. He hauls himself up onto his elbows and sees a worried looking Ace hovering uncertainly by the window, his face is torn. He clearly also wants to leap at him but he’s also obviously feeling too guilty to allow himself to do just that. 

“I’m okay.” He agrees to both Luffy and Ace, holding up his healing arm as proof. The bandage was off overnight to let everything breathe and since he has temporary synthetic skin over his muscle there’s not much to protect. He flexes his fingers to demonstrate, the clear skin and muscle seem to fascinate Luffy as he turns it this way and that looking at it. Across the room Ace visibly relaxes.

“Is it a robot arm?” Luffy asks eagerly and that makes Zoro laugh.

“Sorry Luffy, it’s not a robot arm.” He laughs. As he’s speaking though the door to his room flies open, banging hard against the wall with its force. 

Still grinning Zoro tilts his head back from where he lays on the floor propped up on his good elbow with Luffy squirming excitedly in his lap midway through examining his arm. Upside down Zoro can see a panicked and angry looking Sanji standing like an avenging angel in the door ready to kill anyone. Clearly the dumb cook was expecting an attempt on his life or something equally dramatic, taking in the harmless Luffy and his happy state is making the cook’s expression rapidly take a turn for the confused.

“Hey, sorry about the window. Luffy doesn’t have a lot of respect for property damage.” Zoro apologises on Luffy’s behalf and knees his friend in the back to urge him to do the same.

“Sorry.” Luffy mumbles, red cheeked. 

“Uh.” Sanji manages intelligently from where he stands frozen in the doorway. Normally people don’t break into your house so violently and then apologise right afterwards. 

“This is no time for apologies Luffy! Grab Zoro and go!” Ace orders, striding towards Sanji angrily with flaming fists. 

Apparently this is a little more expected and Sanji knows how to deal with that. Zoro watches with widening eyes as Sanji puts his weight on his back leg, clearly waiting for Ace to get in range, then he’ll flick his leg up and no doubt kick Ace right in the face. Great.

“Oi, none of that. I told you a thousand times already, Sanji’s not like that, now leave him alone.” He says reproachfully, catching Ace’s leg before he can even get to Sanji and get his dumb face kicked. 

Ace’s face is almost a puce colour by now he’s so angry, and clearly being chastised by him right before he’d intended to attack Sanji again isn’t doing his ego any favours. He’s so goddamn stubborn that once he’s set his mind on Sanji being the bad guy and acted so much on it that it’s obviously become a point of pride not to admit that he might have been wrong. Stupid Ace.

Ace does halt in the middle of the room though, with Zoro’s hand on his shin. He looks down angrily at Zoro.

“He put that padlock on your throat didn’t he? Good guys don’t do that.” Ace growls, shaking with repressed rage. 

Zoro rolls his eyes and stands up, letting Luffy slide off of his hips onto the ground. Zoro stands up level with Ace and looks him right in the eyes, he likes Ace, he really does but this is no time to be gentle with him. If anything will snap him out of his delusions, being blunt will.

“Good guys also don’t tend to burn their friends alive, but here you are.” he says coldly. Ace flinches back from that as if Zoro had actually slapped him. Zoro feels bad for being so cruel but he has a point. Neither Ace nor Sanji have acted completely beyond reproach but they’re both good people. Although that case would be easier to make if Zoro couldn’t see Sanji through his peripheral vision grinning like the smuggest cat with the world’s supply of cream.

“Wipe that look off of your face Sanji, don’t think I can’t see you.” Zoro growls, sparing him a glance and pointing a reproachful finger at him. The grin falls off of Sanji’s face and seems to reappear instead on Ace’s.

“And you.” Zoro adds, glowering at Ace too who quickly wipes his own grin away. 

Zoro is starting to get the feeling that this stupid conversation is going to get circular, the more he defends one of them the more self important and smug they’re going to get until he can’t take it any more and tells them off, leading to the other one starting to get like that. Ace and Sanji apparently have more in common than they might like, perhaps he does have a type after all.

“Zoro, it’s not Ace’s fault! We thought…” Luffy interrupts with a frown.

“I know what you thought and I know why, but you’re wrong.” Zoro sighs, looking at the shorter boy. Luffy pouts his lip uncertainly and gives Sanji an assessing look, as if sizing him up before turning his gaze back to Zoro. Luffy clearly isn’t willing to call him a liar about that but he obviously still doesn’t quite believe him either.

“But your wrists are all bruised up, he’s had you chained up!” Ace insists, grabbing one of Zoro’s still bruised wrists. Zoro winces a little at the sudden pressure on them. The bruises are still somewhat sore although the painkillers that he’s on for his arm do numb it considerably. Despite being so recently caused they have faded remarkably, they’re fainter now but still there.

“Like I said, you’ve got the wrong idea. It was consensual.” Zoro corrects with an irritated sigh.

This, though, was perhaps the wrong thing for him to say as a statement like that comes with overtones that he hadn’t meant. Ace explodes, clearly having read the wrong thing into his statement. Now he either thinks that Sanji is abusing him or that the two of them are having endless kinky sex, neither of which is true or evidently especially palatable to Ace. Ace gives Sanji and look of sheer death and storms past Zoro to him.

“I don’t care what you think! He’s got you brainwashed and I’m going to- ACK!” Ace is cut off in his tirade by Zoro yanking the hat from his head and pulling it sharply back, making the strings from it catch Ace around the throat. The older man flails desperately, caught of balance and slightly strangled by Zoro’s grip on his hat.

“Brainwashed?” he growls dangerously, still pulling the hat back and causing Ace to stumble back towards him. Ace had really better not be implying was Zoro thinks he’s implying.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about! He’s exploiting-” Ace chokes out but can’t continue any more as Zoro pulls the strings on Ace’s hat mercilessly tight, cutting off the fire-man’s air supply. He holds them fast in his hand and drags his gaze up to the shocked looking Sanji and Luffy.

“Luffy, why don’t you get Sanji to show you the kitchen? He’s a great cook.” he grits out through clenched teeth, holding the struggling Ace in place. 

“Ah… okay.” Luffy nods meekly and scurries towards the door. He grabs Sanji’s elbow and tries to pull him from the room but Sanji clearly isn’t happy leaving Zoro in a situation like this. Luffy thankfully spares him from shouting Sanji out of the room by reasoning with him.

“You really want to go now.” Luffy hisses at Sanji, pulling on his arm.

“Zoro-” Sanji calls out with a frown but another tug on his arm from Luffy takes him from the room. They shut the door behind him and Zoro lets Ace’s hat go, dropping him unceremoniously to the floor. Ace splutters and gasps for a few moments, looking like a fish out of water on Zoro’s carpet. He’s clutching at his throat and coughing while Zoro tries to keep calm.

“Are you trying to tell me,” he begins reasonably, “that you think I’m dumb enough or feeble minded enough to be brain washed by Sanji? Now, I know that you’ve not taken the time to get to know Sanji because you’re apparently being a dick at the moment, but as someone who does know Sanji let me assure you he’s about as cunning as a sea sponge!” he growls.

“Well something’s clearly wrong with you! You swore you’d never break to any master and now you’re practically licking his shoes! So either you’re a liar or you’re brainwashed and I’ve never thought of you as a liar!” Ace snarls at him angrily as he gets to his feet and rubs at his throat. 

“Just because I changed my mind about something and realised that not every master is a psychopath doesn’t mean that I’m brainwashed! And just because you think Sanji is like that doesn’t make it so!” Zoro snaps back, jabbing Ace in his bare chest. 

“What’s got you so convinced then?!” Ace demands, shoving him back. Zoro catches his balance but grits his teeth, Ace is really starting to push his luck.

“He’s a good man okay? He treats people with respect, he treats me with respect, he keeps his hands to himself and he actually cares about me! He got my swords back!” He argues, gesturing to the three blades leaning against his dresser. 

“I care! And you’re acting like I’m the bad guy here!” the Ace shouts, his fists catching fire in his anger. Zoro backs up a little, he doesn’t like Ace losing his temper enough for him to lose control of his powers, especially since he just got out of the hospital from the last time. 

“I didn’t realise that this was all about you.” He answers coldly. 

“Well, I didn’t realise that you were so cheap!” Ace screams at him.

“Cheap?!” Zoro gawps in shock. Did Ace just…

“I didn’t realise that you were so eager to be manipulated, that all some guy had to do was not hurt you and buy you your things back to get you eating out of the palm of his hand! Hell, apparently he already is chaining you up with your consent!” Ace continues so loudly that Zoro is sure that everyone in the country must be able to hear him. 

“It wasn’t like that!” Zoro denies hotly looking away. Sanji really wasn’t like that, even if it had been a little bit like that on his part. A flash of him on the bed begging for the resistant Sanji flushes through his mind and clearly Ace picks up on a little of his expression because it just seems to anger him further.

“Why not then Zoro? Because clearly you think Sir high-and-mighty is so wonderful it’s a miracle if you’ve not given it up to him already, maybe you have!” The older man shouts accusingly.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” he screams back, balling his fists and sincerely wanting to punch the life out of Ace.

“I DON’T HEAR YOU DENYING IT!” Ace roars at him.

“Not that it’s ANY of you FUCKING BUSINESS but like I told you he’s not that kind of guy!” He barks back furiously, his face hot in anger and humiliation.

“Well my sympathies Zoro, I’d better not tell him that he bought a used whore or he may never give you what you clearly want from him!” Ace yells at the top of his lungs.

Zoro reels back from that as if Ace had physically struck him. How could Ace say that to him? To talk about him as if he really was just some toy and not a person, was that how Ace had seen him when they slept together? He stumbles back from Ace and only when the sharp sting of glass in his foot reaches him does he snap out of it. He looks down at his foot and the bloody smear on the carpet from where he’d stood on it first.

“Zoro I- I didn’t mean that.” Ace apologises quickly, clearly realising that he had gone too far. 

Zoro breathes out slowly and balances on one leg and pulls out the glass from the underside of his foot, it’s so simple to remove something so painful. It’s easy. He drops the glass on the floor and walks right past Ace to the door. 

Ace’s hand catches his elbow and Zoro snaps around fast as lightning and punches him as hard as he can in the face. The blow is so hard that Ace flies backwards and hits one of the posts of Zoro’s bed painfully.

“Get out. Get away from me.” Zoro says in a hollow voice and leaves the room. Ace at least has the good sense not to come after him. He leaves his swords behind because he doesn’t quite trust himself to be armed around Ace right now.

He knows mentally that he should really go to the kitchen and find Sanji and Luffy but right now he’s not sure that it’s a good idea, he feels like he could kill someone. Instead he walks into the gym and eyes up the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling, he swings for it and feels the sting in his hand as he connects with it. 

Did Ace really think so little of him? Did his own friends really think that he was just a whore? Fuck, what if they were right? What if his perception of what was good and bad was so screwed after his life and even the smallest of things were enough to make him want someone? Perhaps the people who shouted at him on the street when they saw his collar were right, perhaps he was just a slut. Maybe the people on TV who argued that people like him who signed themselves over where inherently different, that people like him needed someone to own them to be whole, maybe he really was just broken.

He felt disgusted with himself, both for who he was and what he’d agreed to and for letting Ace say those things to him and not decking him sooner. He slams into the heavy bag again and again. 

What would Kuina say if she could see him now? She’s probably be sickened at him, she always believed in treating your body with respect above all else and he’d sold his as soon as things got bad. He really was cheap and worthless. He kicks furiously at the bag.

Suddenly the bag has more resistance to it and he spots the shine of golden hair that could only be Sanji. At the sudden stop in violence Sanji peeks around the bag at him. 

“If you’re going to kick this thing you need to ground your other foot properly, you’re losing all your power.” Sanji says pointing at Zoro’s back foot. 

Zoro grinds his teeth together, shifts his back foot and kicks at hard as he can with the other, presumptuous asshole. Why did everyone think that they knew better than him about everything? Sanji thinks he knows more about him than fighting and Ace thinks that he knows Zoro’s own mind and body better than he does. He kicks and kicks but Sanji holds the bag fast, taking every measure of power Zoro has. 

“Pleased are you? You hate Ace, you must be ecstatic about hearing all of that!” Zoro hisses at Sanji and swings his fist into the bag right on the other side of where Sanji’s face must be.

“Not really. I didn’t hear any of it.” Sanji says lightly.

“LIAR!” he roars and knees the bag sharply, earning him a grunt from Sanji. He knew just how loud he and Ace especially were shouting, no way Sanji didn’t hear. As much as he hated to admit it, Ace was right that he was afraid that Sanji would know about him and Ace and wouldn’t want him. That’s why it had hurt so much to hear it from Ace, used goods indeed. After all that’s all he was now wasn’t he? Second hand merchandise. 

“One of the things I always hated about my father was when he’d shout at me in public, the names he’d call me, the things he’d say. The other day at the hospital… that was nothing. I hated it, it was bad enough what he said, but knowing other people were listening and could hear it all… that was worse. I hated being some spectacle to people.” Sanji says softly. Zoro pauses in surprise, both at Sanji’s tone and at the sudden change of topic. Sanji knees at the bag himself with a growl of anger. The blonde pauses, sighs and speaks again.

“I might hate Ace, but I happen to like you. I wouldn’t do that to you, I turned the radio on as loud as it would go. I didn’t hear a word once the two of you started shouting.” Sanji explains. 

Zoro stops and stills as something inside him calms, as if some thorn inside of his mind was just removed and soothed. He wasn’t deluded, he wasn’t cheap, Sanji was a good person – genuinely. 

“Which isn’t to say that if you wanted to tell me how much you hate that bastard I’d turn you down, but I’d rather hear it from you deliberately than overhear something not meant for me.” Sanji adds with a smirk, peeking around the side of the bag. 

The laugh escapes out of Zoro’s mouth before he even knows that it’s building there. They seem to multiply because he can’t seem to stop until he’s fallen onto the floor with huge grin plastered on his face. 

“Well, I’m glad I amuse you.” Sanji huffs and sits down next to him.

“Me too.” He smiles up at the ceiling. 

“You want breakfast?” Sanji suggests as he lights a cigarette and breathes the thick smoke into his lungs. 

“That’s your answer to everything.” Zoro snorts.

“Too fucking right it is, I’ve got one skill, damn right I’m gonna flaunt it.” The blonde retorts, blowing a stream of the smoke at him. 

“As if you’ve just got the one skill.” He laughs and stands up.

“I already said that you get breakfast, you don’t have to be nice.” The cook teases, getting to his feet as well.

“This is of course if you’re little friend with the hat hasn’t completely emptied my fridge, you didn’t warn me that he could eat that much.” Sanji points out, shoving his shoulder against Zoro’s. 

“Yeah, maybe we’d better hurry up then.” Zoro agrees, he knows full well how much food Luffy can stuff into his rubber face. 

A thought slowly occurs to him as they draw close to the kitchen, even from the top of the stairs Zoro can hear the music from the radio blaring loudly.

“Wait… if you had the radio on, how did you know that Ace and I had finished fighting?” he asks curiously.

“Ah, well. Our favourite cowboy-hat-wearing-asshole ran past the house and off into the distance, that was after he was done burning a ten foot cock into my lawn outside.” Sanji grumbles, scowling forwards through his hair. 

Zoro groans and scrubs a hand through his hair. Despite his terrible behaviour Ace did have an awful lot of good qualities, but subtlety and self restraint weren’t his strong points. At all. 

“Sorry about that.” He mutters.

“Don’t apologise for that bastard! I’ll make him apologise with my foot up his ass!” Sanji vows, clenching his fist and shaking it dramatically. 

“That I’d like to see!” Zoro laughs loudly, Sanji seems to like that because it makes the blonde smile at him. 

The kitchen is loud, chaotic and excitable when they enter. Franky is shouting loudly about putting a fire out over the volume of the radio, Zoro can see the fire extinguisher by the large patio doors and if he cranes his neck enough he can see the burnt patch on the lawn. Sanji turns the radio down and the room becomes filled with chatter alone. 

“Sanji! Cook me more food!” Luffy chirps happily, flailing his rubber limbs around.

“More?! No, damnit, Zoro eats first. He’s not had anything yet and you’re just stuffing your belly!” Sanji snaps over his shoulder and busies himself at the stove. Luffy pouts but laughs when Usopp pokes him in the side and starts telling him a massive lie.

Zoro is pleased to see that Luffy seems to have genuinely warmed to Sanji, Luffy has always had a pretty black and white view of the world. People were either good or bad, or he didn’t know them yet. He’s clearly decided that Sanji falls squarely in the good category, perhaps because of how he’d reacted when Ace burnt him, or perhaps Sanji’s personality has shone through or maybe it’s just because the blonde had fed him already. Either way Luffy seems to be firmly pro-Sanji, which since Zoro happens to hold the same position, makes him happy. Perhaps with Luffy so convinced Ace might come around, though Zoro doubts that will happen any time soon. 

Luffy also seems to have ingratiated himself pretty thoroughly with Usopp and Franky, which doesn’t surprise Zoro either. All three of them are pretty easy to like and all about as weird as each other. Moreover the fact that Franky does have robot body parts seems to be the coolest thing ever as far as Luffy is concerned. Cool enough even to stop him stealing everyone else’s food for a few minutes and allow Zoro to get some of Sanji’s wonderful cooking. Sanji puts a full plate of food down for Zoro, perhaps even fuller than the others, no doubt compensating for his missed meal last night. Stupid worrying cook.

“Eat it all or I’ll kick your ass.” Sanji says threateningly and contradictorily strokes his hand through Zoro’s hair as he goes past. Zoro smiles as he eats, feeling strangely at peace so soon after such a vicious fight. Sanji heads back to make himself some breakfast, always leaving himself last for some reason. It’s kind of nice to watch Sanji doing something that he’s so talented at, he’d never believed that food could be so good before but now he does. 

“You like him.” Luffy says quietly. Zoro looks at his friend in surprise but Luffy is just smiling at him warmly, Zoro realises with a start that he’d been smiling at Sanji’s back. His cheeks warm in embarrassment.

“Of course I do. I’ve told you he’s not this big villain that-” Zoro starts.

“I didn’t mean like that.” Luffy grins.

“It’s not- I mean… Sanji and I aren’t…” Zoro scrambles for the right words but Usopp interrupts him with a laugh.

“As if, you two were about five minutes from tearing each other’s clothes off when I walked in on you in the garage yesterday!” Usopp snickers.

“Shut it Usopp!” Zoro hisses, threatening the long nose with his knife. It might but be a butter knife but he knows enough about blades to HURT the other teen before someone stops him.

“In my garage?!” Franky gawps in horror, as if he and Sanji had defiled his precious cars. Although, actually, they’re Sanji’s cars.

“Nothing happened!” Zoro insists reddening. 

“I think it’s nice. You’ve never looked at anyone like that, not even Ace.” Luffy says quietly, but remarkably on the mark as he sometimes can be. Zoro makes the mistake of glancing to the side to see Sanji reaching up to fiddle with the radio, apparently he doesn’t like the song that’s on. But it’s ever so slightly out of reach so he’s having to balance precariously on his tip toes to be able to fiddle with the station dial, his shirt rides up high as he stretches only to come back down when Sanji laughs triumphantly at succeeding. The blonde happily goes back to cooking, singing quietly and out of tune to himself along with the radio. The scene is charming and sweet enough to make Zoro feel an attack of suspiciously warm fuzzy feelings coming up inside of him. Embarrassed at himself he shoves them aside and glares at Luffy.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He grumbles and stabs a mushroom on his plate with more vengeance than was strictly speaking necessary. 

Sanji sings along out of tune and Zoro shuts everything else out and eats his breakfast whilst the conversation around him changes. 

Eventually he finishes his food and Sanji kicks Luffy out of the house before Luffy manages to bankrupt the wealthy man with his eating habits. Zoro grins and knows that Luffy will be back a lot more often now, if not every day. 

He helps Sanji with the cleaning up before haring upstairs and grabbing his book from his trashed room, glad that he won’t be around when Franky discovers what Ace and Luffy have done. He dresses in a hurry and bumps into a surprised Sanji in the hallway.

“Robin’s?” Zoro asks hopefully, holding up his book and its secret message to Sanji. The blonde smiles slowly and warmly, threatening to turn Zoro’s insides to mush again. Sanji nods and leads the way to the car and together he and Sanji go off to Robin’s. They’re barely through the door before they once again encounter the ever rude Mr 3 on their way to Robin’s library. 

The ride there has made him antsy to get his message to Nami, he’s eager to see her again or at least speak to her. He doesn’t know what he’s feeling at the moment and Nami was always so good at sorting through his emotions for him. He knows that Sanji doesn’t understand why it’s so important for him to get this book back but does he really have to stop in the entrance to the library and talk to Robin about boring party shit?

“You know it’s your uncle’s surprise party tonight yes?” Robin says silkily, brushing her long hair out of her eyes as she gazes at Sanji.

“What? No, that’s a surprise to me too. When was this planned from?” Sanji frowns at her over the table in the middle of the library where Robin is serving freshly brewed coffee.

“Hm, yesterday was when I heard about it. Which is unusual for your father, he’s usually an advance planner. And your uncle’s birthday is months away.” Robin remarks coolly. 

“I wonder why he’s doing it then. Are you going?” Sanji hums thoughtfully. 

BORING. Zoro sneaks off to the fiction section that he was in before and carefully replaces the book on the shelf. Curiously he opens up any other book that he remembers reading with Nami but none of the others have messages in. Warily he looks around, he can’t see Nami watching him anywhere but she must have some means of keeping an eye on the bookshelf. He scans for cameras but sees none. 

Could she be in the building? Surely she couldn’t hide here with all of Robin’s staff patrolling? He wants to explore and find out but getting caught would be bad news and he’d have no way to explain it. It wasn’t as if Sanji and Robin didn’t know he was here after all, and Mr. 3 hates him enough already, doubtlessly he would use any opportunity to get him in trouble. But… Nami wouldn’t just do the safe thing would she? No, she’d be stealthy and sneak off to find him.

Steeling himself he makes his way to the end of the stacks and glances about. There’s no one else there and he can still hear Sanji’s dulcet tones along with Robin’s as they talk, they’re paying no attention to his absence or have probably attributed it to him getting caught up in reading like he did last time they were here. 

Not too far along the long bookshelf lined wall before him is a door, he sneaks over to it light footed and slips through the door, not daring to close it behind him for the sound it might make. He’s inside a corridor in Robin’s massive stately home, he’s never been in this part before and he’s no idea where Nami might be if she even is here. He thinks of her and then sets off in a random direction hoping that his instincts might know the way.

He keeps his ears pricked for any staff that might be wandering around but thankfully sees none, soon enough he comes to a gently winding staircase. There are leaves engraved on the wooden banister and leaf patterns on the carpet, the theme seems to stretch through Robin’s entire home.

Zoro thinks for a moment at the foot of the stairs. If Robin is here, by or against her own will she still needs a place to sleep, so that means that he has to go upstairs to the bedrooms. If Nami is hiding here then she’s likely doing so in the attic, which still means up. So up he goes. He ghosts up the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible and makes his way down the corridor that it opens into. 

Something bright catches his eye in the muted forest scheme. On a mahogany table next to an elegant terracotta pot is something sky blue. He walks closer to it and sees that it’s three medium length poles with spheres at the end of each one, they remind him vaguely of Nami’s old bo staff, they too look like they fit together into one pole. 

It’s a curious object with no obvious purpose, it’s not obviously on display like the vases and paintings that decorate the place, it just seems to have been left here. But why and what is it? Curiously he touches one, it suddenly radiates hot air, it’s like sticking his hand inside an oven. Warily he pulls it back and finds that the next he touch is like sticking his hand inside a freezer. Further curious he looks at the remaining pole with its matching ball. He touches it.

The electric shock it gives him courses almost instantly through his whole body, strong enough to convulse his muscles to snap his arm back away from it painfully. He’s only just able to catch himself from yelling loudly. He shakes his hand, his entire arm is tingling with all of the hairs on it standing on end, he’s glad he touched it with his undamaged arm, he’s not sure how his synthetic muscle might respond to a shock like-

“COLLAR REMOVAL ATTEMPT DETECTED.” The artificial voice which has been silence since he was released from the institute suddenly booms inside his head. 

“Oh shit, no I wasn’t trying to-” He hisses in a panic, hopefully it’ll hear him and not punish him.

“INITIATING DETERRANT.” It says. Well, crap.

Zoro drops instantly to his knees, so fast that it makes the joints hurt at the jolt, he bends into a formal submissive bow. Sometimes that’s enough to show the stupid collar that he’s not trying to escape or take it off and avoid the shock, once when he was off of the institute for three whole days the thing started giving him shocks every five minutes, each one stronger than the last until he got back. 

Unfortunately this time it’s not enough to avoid the shock. It courses through his system with enough power to make his muscles violently jerk out of his control, it throws him into the opposite wall hard enough to make him lose consciousness briefly. He opens his eyes fuzzily as a blonde woman with oranges on her dress runs by him with the blue thing in her hand, but she fits into the mental category of “women who aren’t Nami” and he passes out again.

By the time he comes to Robin is knelt over him and Sanji’s leaning over him with his hand on Zoro’s collar. He’s got a phone in one hand and a scowl on his face.

“Well your system is wrong Zoro didn’t try to- Zoro! You’re awake, do you feel okay?” Sanji asks suddenly, looking at him. 

“I’m fine.” He manages to croak out. 

“You’re lucky, if this ever happens again I’ll make it my personal mission to hunt you down and destroy you, do you understand me? I advise you to check your clearly malfunctioning systems.” Sanji growls out down the phone and ends the call.

“What…?” Zoro groans, sitting up with some help from Sanji. 

“They said that the collar sensed that you got shocked by something, and that they shocked you back in response. Apparently the people monitoring these things thought that you were trying to escape and “acted accordingly”, assholes.” Sanji growls and steadies Zoro’s shoulder.

He looks around but the blue pole thing is missing, all three parts of it. The woman he saw must have taken it.

“What were you doing up here anyway Zoro?” Robin asks, her voice silky and dangerous but her smile pleasant.

“Lost.” Zoro lies, closing his eyes and resting his aching head on Sanji’s shoulder. He’s hurt enough for that to be enough explanation without seeming odd, he’s not sure that he has the brainpower right now to think up anything more convincing either. His ears are still ringing from the impact against the wall behind him and the shock. 

“His sense of direction is so awful, you wouldn’t believe it.” Sanji laughs weakly and strokes Zoro’s hair.

“Indeed.” Robin agrees, clearly not believing either of them. Thankfully Sanji at least is being honest and is unaware that it’s a lie on his part.

“He gets lost in my house all the time, he claims that the rooms move.” Sanji teases lightly.

“Shut up, they do.” He protests weakly against Sanji’s shoulder.

“See? I’m taking you home Zoro, can you stand?” the blonde asks, gently pulling him to his feet. Zoro obliges and stands on unsteady legs. Robin is watching him more like a hawk than the Christmassy bird that she’s named after so he plays up the disorientated thing a little more.

“This way?” He asks, turning further down the corridor that he was going down.

“No, dumbass, this way. See?” Sanji sighs, looking at Robin with a small smirk and tugging Zoro back the way that he came.

“I’ll see you boys tonight, if Zoro is better of course.” Robin calls after them. Sanji turns and looks over Zoro’s shoulder, flashing her a beaming smile, one that Zoro is starting to recognise as being exaggerated and not quite real.

“Of course my lovely Robin-chwan!” Sanji calls back waving enthusiastically. 

They get into the car together, Zoro’s head still ringing a little from the shock. Sanji buckles himself up, flicks the appropriate switches and takes off. 

“So…” He says idly, adjusting the rear view mirror as he does so.

“Are you going to tell me why you were really upstairs in Robin’s house?” Sanji asks.

Zoro says nothing but remembers his words in the book: “The Prince and I have never from the beginning lied to each other.”

“I don’t want to tell you.” He answers honestly. 

That at least seems to surprise the cook who looks at him slightly startled by his words.

“Oh?” He says eventually.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just… not sure of this myself yet. So I don’t want to talk about it.” Zoro sighs, looking out of the window.

“Is this to do with Ace? Are you in trouble? Did he say something…?” Sanji asks, his hands tightening on the wheel almost imperceptibly.

“No, nothing like that.” Zoro answers, shaking his head. 

“Okay then.” The blonde nods finally any drops the topic of conversation. They fly back to Sanji’s house and park up in the garage, 

Franky and Usopp are already in there sat around a worktable and tinkering with the inner workings of some machine. Zoro hops out of the car and sidles over to them, keeping a curious but wary distance, he’s aware that things that Usopp makes have an unfortunate tendency of exploding. When it appears that nothing is looking too dangerous Zoro comes closer.

“What’re you doing?” Zoro queries as he hops up to sit on the edge of the work table.

“Tweaking this, it ought to make the cars go faster.” The long nose explains holding up a small mechanical thing that’s about orange sized, Zoro has no idea what it’s called or where it goes in a car. 

“Or it could possibly blow them up.” Franky remarks, unhappy at the prospect of his precious machines being damaged.

“That… sounds like a bad idea.” Zoro points out.

“Most things that Usopp says are. Crap, I need to get ready for this board meeting and go. Usopp, make sure Zoro gets to my father’s for eight okay? My uncle is apparently getting a surprise party.” Sanji says offhandedly as he exits the room. 

“More time with Sanji’s family huh?” Franky comments, looking up at Zoro over his sunglasses.

“I would genuinely rather be electrocuted.” He says flatly, seriously thinking that if getting another shock from his collar would get him out of having to talk to Sanji’s ghastly uncle he’d completely go for that deal. 

“I would rather that he was electrocuted.” The mechanic suggests with a grin.

“Amen.” Zoro smirks back. 

When Sanji re-enters the room Franky is inspecting Zoro’s synthetic muscle with an impressed and jealous eye, if the technology had been around when he’d had his accident and he’d been rich enough then he would have loved to have had muscle like that.

Zoro looks up, midway through flexing his fingers so Franky can watch his muscles move. Sanji is dressed in a sharp but conservative suit with none of his usual style, his shirt is snow white and stiffly starched in a way that looks highly uncomfortable. His feet are closed into pointy tapered shoes that look nowhere near as dangerous as the cook’s usual black reinforced footwear and his neck is collared with a shiny black tie. 

“How do I look?” Sanji asks, gesturing down to his suit. 

“Like you’re attending the funeral for your sense of style.” Zoro answers with a smirk. 

“Oh, I was going for the funeral of my integrity, but that too.” The blonde grouses, tugging at the collar of his shirt. 

“I hate my father and his awful company, I hate all those scumbag board members. This is why I’ve always tried to stay away from it all and make my money my way, I never wanted to get involved in this.” He growls, his fists tightening.

“Just because you’re pretending to be someone you’re not to get your father off your back doesn’t mean that’s who you are.” Zoro points out wisely, he’s had to tell himself more or less the same over and over ever since he sold himself. 

“That actually helps…thanks.” Sanji says quietly, and picks a briefcase up off of the floor with a deep sigh.

“Wow, you actually have a briefcase. I might have to revise my opinion here, you’re a complete corporate tool now.” He teases, prompting Sanji to scowl at him and smack him over the head with the damn thing.

“Hey! I’m injured here! You’re supposed to be nice to me!” Zoro laughs, batting the offending case away with his good hand.

“Make sure he shows up tonight, I don’t want to have to deal with my family alone any more than I need to!” Sanji orders Usopp and stomps off to his car in a huff. 

“Have fun at work sweetie!” Zoro calls after Sanji, unable to stop himself from laughing. Franky and Usopp also dissolve into fits of giggles. Sanji simply flips him off and grumpily gets into his car. As he reverses out though Zoro can spot the small smile on the blonde’s face and that’s enough to make Zoro feel confident that Sanji will be okay. 

 

Zoro shows up to the party perfectly prepared, he looks just like he’s supposed to. Despite what Nami always accused him of he did pay attention in a lot of his classes and he knows that a large part of his job is to make Sanji look good, the blonde wasn’t what he expected but he is still Sanji’s mate. Regardless of their actually good relationship behind closed doors Zoro was supposed to make Sanji look good in public and right now it seemed like Sanji’s father was less than pleased with how his son was conducting himself. So it was his job to repair that, however little he wanted to do so. 

He looks good in his suit, damn good in fact and from the stares that he’s drawing as he enters the building. He slides out of his usual walk and takes every part of himself that he thinks of as real and locks it away inside, this person that he’s pretending to be isn’t him and doesn’t reflect who his is, he knows that. It just… helps to remind himself of that. Instead he slinks through the crowds of guests at Spandam’s party in his perfect black suit trimmed with gold buttons and detail. He’d remembered Robin’s help on the day of his ceremony and borrowed some golden dust from Usopp. He’d used enough of it on his skin to give him an almost imperceptible shine, enough to play off of the natural bronze tone in his complexion and echo the gold at his ear and his throat.

He deliberately ignores the looks, stares and flirtatious smiles from everyone that he passes, he’s not interested in them and every word that they speak reminds him of why. They all refer to him in hushed tones as “that”. ‘Look at that’ or ‘who owns that gorgeous one?’ he’s not a person to them, not like he is to Sanji. 

Speaking of the blonde he spies Sanji propping up a bar in the corner of the room and this time Zoro’s smile is genuine. Sanji has many talents but he’s nowhere near as good at lying about who he is and pretending to be enjoying himself when he’s not as Zoro is. He smiles and slinks over to Sanji.

“Master.” He purrs in Sanji’s ear, making the blonde jolt under his touch.

“Zor-oh…” Sanji says, his sentence derailing as Sanji’s blue eye visibly runs up and down him making Zoro feel smug and pleased instead of slightly dirty like everyone else’s looks have made him feel so far. 

“You look…” Sanji says clearly struggling to find the right words.

“One of us had to make you look good and with one of us standing around scowling and looking like they’ve come from a funeral I had to pull your weight too didn’t I?” He teases. 

“Being smug isn’t attractive you know moss-head.” The blonde shoots back.

“News to me.” Zoro hums and leans into Sanji’s side. He scours the room through his lashes and spies Spandam and Fullbody watching them like hawks. He frowns, he should perhaps be doing something to mend Sanji’s damaged reputation as far as his father is concerned. Zoro scans the room and spots Hina standing not too far away talking to Brook, as if sensing his eyes on her she looks over and Zoro smiles at her. She says something to Brook before making her way over to them with an intrigued expression on her face.

“Lady Hina.” He smiles as she comes closer.

“My lady!” Sanji echoes happily as he sees her. He remembers Sanji not being certain about Hina, having liked her but not known if she was “real”. 

“Sir Prince and… Zoro wasn’t it?” Hina says looking at them both. 

“Ah, yes. Sorry that you didn’t meet Zoro at your party before, he was… unwell and had to go home.” Sanji lies quickly. He hadn’t been ill, he’d just dealt badly with having to talk about Nami again. 

“So I hear. You’re quite the unlucky man Zoro, getting sick, getting injured.” Hina says with a slightly dangerous undercurrent to her voice, clearly she thinks the same about his burnt arm as Smoker had. Well, he could fix that. 

“It was an accident, but look, they fixed it for me. It’s all synthetic muscle, apparently as I heal it’ll be replaced by my own again.” He explains with a broad smile as he pulls back his shirtsleeve enough for her to see. 

“Oh my.” Hina exclaims, peering at the clear tissue. 

“Zoro! Lady Hina might not want to see your arm!” Sanji yelps, trying to pull him away. 

“Hina likes it.” The pink haired woman responds childishly and runs a thumb over the fake skin. 

“Sanji wanted to apologise by the way, to Smoker. I understand that he’s a friend of yours.” Zoro says smoothly, he catches Sanji’s expression which clearly telegraphs that the last thing he wants to do is apologise to Smoker, much less ever speak to him again. 

“He was worried about me, and highly strung, so he wasn’t as nice as he could have been.” Zoro adds.

“They accused me of hurting you!” Sanji exclaims with a pout. Zoro watches Hina’s eyes flick to Sanji as if she’s trying for herself to assess whether or not Sanji really did hurt him. Zoro decides then and there that he can’t try to manipulate Hina into believing him, he just has to be real with Sanji for a moment, he’s not sure if Smoker’s smile and mysterious words at the end of his last visit meant that the same had convinced him. 

“I think it’s nice.” He says quietly, pulling his shirt sleeve down again.

“I know that they were wrong, but don’t you think it’s a good thing that the police were trying to protect a mate? I never thought any police officer would do that.” He adds with a sigh as he tries to button up his cuff, even though he’s left handed the slippery golden button is giving him a bit of trouble. 

“I know, but you don’t need protecting from me.” Sanji grouses. The blonde huffs and catches his wrist, doing up the button for him smoothly. 

“They don’t know that.” Zoro points out. Sanji makes a disparaging noise through his nose and seems surprised when Hina giggles, Zoro wonders if Sanji had actually somehow forgotten Hina was there or whether he had just forgot that she could hear them.

“You know,” Hina says slowly, giving Sanji a sly smile, “Hina thinks that she may have misjudged you.” 

Zoro has no idea why Hina is still talking about herself in the third person but Sanji’s pleasantly surprised look makes him happy.

“See you around.” Hina says and waves as she walks off. Sanji looks from her retreating form back to him a few times in surprise and confusion.

“Did… did you somehow just convince Hina to like me? I’ve been trying to get her to talk to me for ages but she’s always been really distant with me.” Sanji says in shock, his hand still lingering warmly on Zoro’s sleeve.

“I did say I was here to make you look good didn’t I?” Zoro smirks back.

“Ass.” Sanji retorts with a small scowl.

“Anyway, she probably thought that you were like Spandam, most people are actually like the rest of their family. All I did was show her that you’re not your father.” He explains. Sanji seems surprised at his words, he wonders just how much Sanji worries about being seen to be like that bastard, the thought seems to disgust him on the whole. 

Zoro takes a chance and looks across at Spandam and Fullbody who are still watching him with disapproving eyes, perhaps they didn’t want him making Sanji look good to someone who clearly doesn’t like them. Well, fuck them. What were they going to do anyway? Suspicion prickles at the back of Zoro’s neck, hot under his collar, when he sees Spandam glance over to the door and smile nastily. 

He feels the subtle change in the room before he understands it. No one has done anything obvious to cause it from what Zoro can see but the change is there, it’s a tension that runs thick through the air and hums like an angry wasp. 

The untrained eye might not spot anything wrong with the room, people are still laughing and talking but Zoro can feel the change. The mate’s laughs are more brittle, their eyes sharper and more wary. As a mate Zoro is used to reading people’s moods, especially the moods of other mates, a ripple of sudden tension or a room of people quickly turning formal was often all the warning you would get that someone important had come into the room. This reaction however was much more sinister, quiet terror runs through every mate in the room and though Zoro can’t see its source he starts to feel it too. His skin breaks out in goose bumps and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. 

Warily he turns his head and looks, careful of making any obvious searching movements. It’s then that he sees him. He’s in the doorway talking to Spandam, his sickening grin broad with its missing teeth. Zoro sucks in a panicked breath and steps closer to Sanji, he notices plenty of other mates doing the same, edging closer to their masters or even plastering themselves against them. 

“Zoro, what’s wrong? You’ve gone all pale.” Sanji murmurs at his side, looking at him worriedly. Zoro fixes his gaze on Sanji and deliberately doesn’t look at him. 

“Remember how I told you that mates can be returned if we don’t fulfil our obligations?” He asks quietly. 

“Yes.” Sanji says, a sour look coming across his face at the idea.

“Well, since almost no one buys second hand mates didn’t you wonder why we don’t deliberately try to get returned?” He points out.

“You… you said that they threaten you first, and then if you still refused… you said that someone like me would be entitled to a new mate.” Sanji says slowly, the idea dawning on him.

“Yeah, they haul us in and threaten us, didn’t you wonder what they could threaten us with that would be worse than being forced to be fucked by someone we hate against our will?” He hisses irritably and glances over to where he is standing near Spandam and Fullbody. 

“I don’t know… but… but I do know someone that does buy second hand mates, look, there he is.” Sanji says obliviously pointing right at him.

“Don’t fucking point at him!” Zoro snaps as quietly as he can and snatches Sanji’s hand back. 

“Are you so fucking stupid that you’ve not noticed that since he came in every mate in this room is terrified? He is what they threaten us with. He is what they keep us in line with and he is who we’d sooner do anything than be bought by!” Zoro grits out as quickly and quietly as he can.

Zoro chances another glance over his shoulder. He is coming their way!

“But… why? Are you sure that it’s him? My father knows him…” Sanji says back under his breath as he frowns slightly, clearly not comprehending the situation.

“Of course it’s him! You think I wouldn’t know?! He brings his previous mates back to the institute with him when he picks up anyone that’s been returned. He brings back the last mate he took and they’re always dead Sanji, either broken and dead on the inside or dead on the outside and in bits!” he says in quiet but mounting hysteria. 

Zoro chances a look up as a hot bolt of genuine fear runs through him, he is closing in. That sickened deranged smile spreads across his face and Zoro is truly afraid, a thousand times more afraid of this man that he had ever been of Sanji. He slides behind the blonde, putting his master between him and a fate truly worse than death. 

All he can see in his minds eye is the faces of mates that he’d known, people he’d grown up with and seen laughing, brought back with him when the next unlucky soul was brought back. Their eyes would always be dead with nothing of their mind still inside them. They would obey any command and do anything asked of them. His fellow mates had tried before to get some reaction out of them, to prove that there was still something inside, but any light in them had been taken, swallowed by his darkness. 

He broke you, made you forget who and what you were. No matter how strong the person, no matter how determined or strong willed the mate had been they’d come back with dead eyes and no soul. The lucky ones came back just dead, but they all wondered how long they’d suffered before being killed. None of them wanted to risk landing in his ownership. He was what children in the institute wept about and what still haunted the nightmares of every mate at every age. 

Zoro turns and lets the mask of bland innocent obedience fall over his face. He can see Sanji’s concerned blue eyes looking at him through a curtain of gold but Zoro can’t afford to react, not now. 

“Sir Prince, I’ve not seen you for some time. I’m sad to say that we’ve only really met each other in passing.” He says. Zoro deliberately doesn’t make eye contact with him, it’s too dangerous. Instead he stares at Sanji’s shoulder, his eyes downcast meekly. Sanji’s body language isn’t angry but it’s wary, clearly he believes Zoro enough to be wary of this man, but poor naïve Sanji still doesn’t understand just how evil the institute is, of course he doesn’t quite grasp the horror that this man holds. 

“Yes, Blackbeard isn’t it?” Sanji says in a carefully neutral tone. Inside Zoro winces at the man’s name, a childish habit but no one at the institute said his name. They all feared that somehow he could hear you if you did and would come for you.

“Call me Teach.” He says with a jovial laugh. 

“Teach.” Sanji echoes, not offering any obvious route for further discussion, clearly hoping that he’ll go away.

“I must say that your mate is quite lovely, very pretty. Is he what you’d hoped for?” He says with a dangerous lilt to his voice.

“Zoro is great thank you. I really don’t-” Sanji replies with a polite but clearly displeased tone to his voice. 

“He looks completely new in fact, not even like you’ve broken him in.” he remarks. Zoro’s eyes widen at that as he understands. Spandam knows him, and doubtlessly knows how the system for returning mates works. Spandam clearly doesn’t approve of his and Sanji’s relationship, or perhaps doesn’t believe that Sanji and him are having sex, or rather that Sanji is forcing him to. Either way, this is a threat, loud and clear. He looks up in Spandam’s direction through his eyelashes and sees that Spandam is grinning nastily, yes, this is definitely deliberate. 

“What do you- oh. I hardly think that’s an appropriate topic of conversation thank you!” Sanji replies haughtily as he catches his meaning. 

“If you’re having trouble breaking him in or if he’s not to your liking I’d be happy to take him off of your hands, he’d be so much fun I’m sure.” He says suddenly reaching forward with gigantic dark hands and grabbing Zoro’s chin, deliberately forcing Zoro’s gaze up and into his dark terrible eyes.

There’s no point pretending that if he doesn’t think his name he’ll leave him alone. Blackbeard has him, he’s looking right at him and he’s touching him. There’s no hiding now. His eyes are dark and evil in a way that makes Zoro’s skin absolutely crawl. A terrified breath ghosts out of Zoro’s lips and Blackbeard’s smirk widens. 

“THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!” A voice yells, breaking the stillness in the room. A flash of light and a burst of explosion throw the three of them apart. 

All of Zoro’s hairs are standing on end and not out of fear, static runs across his skin and he is the quickest out of the three of them to recover. He gasps and sits up.

A thrill of excitement races through the mates in the room and Zoro feels the word on each of their lips, said in hushed tones or even just mouthed. Nami. Vivi had been right, she was a legend now. The one who escaped. 

Zoro stares up at the high window and sees her, the shock of her orange hair curling around her masked face, it’s undoubtedly her and she’s alive. She is dressed head to toe in black with a black mask over her eyes and the top of her hair. In her right hand is the long blue staff with the balls on it, pointed right at Blackbeard.

“Thunderbolt tempo!” She shouts, leaping from the window, swinging the pole and shooting a fork of lightning at Spandam. Unfortunately though a bodyguard throws himself between the two of them and takes the clearly fatal shock himself. 

“Get her!” Fullbody yells furiously, pointing a furious finger at Nami. Bodyguards stream into the room and several level pistols at her, the sound of their cocking rings loudly through the room.

“You’re surrounded, surrender!” Fullbody shouts triumphantly. Zoro knows what’s coming next.

“You wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.” Nami grins cockily, quoting the book word for word. Fullbody doesn’t seem to know what to do with that answer, it clearly wasn’t what he was expecting. 

“What are you waiting for you fools? Shoot her!” He eventually snaps, the guards seem to come to and raise their rifles.

Nami suddenly spins the pole in her hand and immediately the room is filled with steam.

“Mirage Tempo!” she yells. The room is somehow filled with dozens of versions of her, all slightly distorted. Suddenly Nami bursts into a run, the steam and the copies of her making it impossible to follow which one is the real Nami. A copy of her flees past Zoro but he can already tell that it’s not her, the real Nami slid out of the window in a haze of steam whilst her doubles flee through the room until she’s out of sight and her mirage affect dissipates. 

“What the hell?” Sanji gasps in confusion. Sanji doesn’t understand it but Zoro does, that was a failed assassination attempt of Spandam’s life, and possibly on Blackbeard’s as well. The scum in question is still sat on the floor opposite Zoro, his eyes wide with both shock and apparently amusement. The rich bastards in the room are panicked, one of their own was just nearly killed and several injured, and yet Blackbeard throws his head back and laughs loudly. The scumbag laughs louder and louder until everyone in the room is looking at him like he’s crazy. With Blackbeard’s clear madness and the sudden attempt on Spandam’s life the party breaks up quickly. 

Zoro stares into the night sky as they leave the building and wonders where Nami has run off to. Surely she’ll try to find him now? And if she doesn’t he knows exactly where she is now beyond a doubt, she’s with Robin and she is alive.


	13. Chapter 13

Zoro sits quietly in the car with Sanji next to him as they leave his father’s party. They’ve both been subdued since Nami burst in and tried to kill Spandam and Blackbeard causing the party to come to an abrupt close. 

He’s pleased that Nami is alive, unspeakably so but… well, his pleasure is muted by the still cold touch that Blackbeard left him with. Spandam had clearly invited him there deliberately and as a threat, but why?

Just how is he supposed to respond to this? Does Spandam think that he’s denying Sanji the use of his body and that perhaps Sanji isn’t “man enough” to force him? Or is this a threat to Sanji that if he doesn’t use his toys properly they’ll be taken away? Should he just… give in? He wouldn’t mind sleeping with Sanji…

Somehow however his mind recoils away from the thought. Usually thinking of the blonde like that makes his blood heat pleasantly but the idea of doing it with Sanji on command, as a mate, rather than as himself… it sickens him. The fact that it would be Sanji wouldn’t make it any better, in fact it might worsen it. He respects Sanji because he’s not like that, so there’s no way that he’d sleep with him on order. He shudders at the thought and as he does so Sanji’s warm hand gently touches his back, right between his shoulder blades. 

“Hey, he really spooked you didn’t he? I’ve never seen you like that.” Sanji says quietly. Zoro looks over, in the dark of the car Sanji’s expression looks almost sombre.

“You would be too if you’d heard and seen everything I have.” Zoro grumbles feeling offended at Sanji’s pity. The blonde’s hand retreats from his back and silence falls in the backseat of the car for a few minutes before Sanji speaks again.

“I’d thought before that the institute just did bad things because they hadn’t thought about the consequences or about how people felt.” Sanji says quietly in the darkness.

“But the more time I spend with you, the more I see that it’s deliberate. They hurt and threaten people on purpose and then tell everyone that it’s all fine.” Sanji adds in a numb voice. 

“I want to cut the throats of everyone involved in that place, everyone who just lets it go on, everyone who gets rich off of this torture!” Zoro growls in agreement, his hands clenching in the wish for his swords. 

“I wouldn’t stop you, you deserve to. Everyone involved deserves it.” The blonde says in a dead voice as he looks out the window into the night sky. 

Zoro’s rage softens then from the sharp razor’s edge it had to the quiet hatred he’s had his entire collared life. Sanji looks guilty as all hell. He knows that the cook feels bad about owning him, that he feels like he’s part of that system. The stupid idiot probably thinks that he’s almost as bad of a monster as Cabaji is.

“You’re not like them you know, I know you’re thinking it.” He says quietly, bumping the other man’s knee with his own. Sanji winces and looks over at him, his blonde hair almost white in the moonlight. 

“You know what I’m thinking huh?” Sanji asks with a hollow little laugh.

“Yeah, I do. It’s written all over your face, you feel guilty.” Zoro replies, pointing at the blonde.

Sanji shifts uncomfortably in his seat and tugs at the hair covering half of his face, almost as if he wishes he could pull it over the rest of him. 

“Zoro I- I need to…. I just…” Sanji says suddenly but is clearly scrambling for the words. Zoro raises an expectant eyebrow at the other man but the words seem to die on his lips.

“…never mind.” Sanji concludes with a shake of his head and turns to look out of the window again. 

 

When the car pulls into the garage Zoro gets out first and shuts the door behind him.

“I’m… I’m going to go get some air. I’ll be outside.” He says thoughtfully, Sanji doesn’t answer him but just nods instead. Zoro leaves him to the car and heads into the kitchen. He pulls two crystal glasses out of Sanji’s nice booze cupboard and selects a bottle of rum and a bottle of amaretto. He sets both glasses down on the counter top and goes upstairs to retrieve his swords and their polishing kit. With that at his hip and the glasses and bottles in his hands he shoulders the wide glass patio door open and steps out into the coolness of the night. 

He takes a brief moment to enjoy the cool air on his skin as he heads over to the pool, he sets the glasses and bottles down on the metal table between two sun loungers. He pours a glass of each drink and sits down. He gently unsheathes one sword and starts polishing it, it’s nice work to do and it’s always relaxed him. The only light but the stars and the moon is the dim glow from Sanji’s bedroom light at the far end of the pool, after half an hour it too goes dark. 

Zoro’s eyes take a minute or so to adjust to the dark and by the time they have he sighs and flicks the used cotton ball onto the floor. He’d been done polishing his swords for a while now, he was just killing time really. Sighing he leans back and picks up his glass and takes a deep drink of it. 

“If you don’t come out, I’m going to drink yours too.” He announces into the night. 

The black figure slides out of the shadows and toward the loungers. Zoro looks up, she’s petite as ever, except for her chest of course. She’s barely changed, except for the entirely black outfit and the hooded mask over her face, but the orange hair peeking out from under that mask, the violet eyes and the clever mouth he knows by heart. 

“Nice mask.” He comments dryly and takes another sip of his drink. She falls into the chair next to him and picks up her own glass.

“They’re terribly comfortable.” She remarks, quoting again as she pulls it off and shakes her hair completely free. She drinks her own drink for a moment. 

The night is quiet and dark, the moment itself is peaceful but Zoro’s heart and soul are far from matching that.

“You let me think you were dead. Do you have any idea what that did to me?” He says darkly, glaring at the still water of the swimming pool.

“I’m so sorry.” Nami breathes regretfully. 

“Screw sorry, you witch! I thought you’d burnt alive because I wasn’t strong enough to protect you!” He snarls at her as all of his rage and pain comes back to him. 

He remembers being held down in the hospital bed, his chest held together with stitching, glue and bandages when they told him. He remembers sobbing, screaming and shaking apart as the reality of her death ripped through him more painfully than Mihawk’s blade ever could. Nami seems to know and before Zoro registers it she’s put down her glass and crawled into his lap with her arms around his neck. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispers into his skin. He wraps his arms around her slender body and holds her tightly, he can feel her breath against his neck, the wetness from her tears against his skin and he can feel her heart beating under his hand on her back. She’s alive.

“You fucking bitch, I hate you.” He chokes out and buries his face in her shoulder. She smells like mikans and sunshine. 

Eventually they pull apart and both act as if nothing had happened, both of their lives and personalities make them a little emotionally stunted and neither of them is all that good at dealing with real raw emotion. Instead he sits cross legged in his chair and Nami sits on the leg rest as they both stare into their glasses of alcohol. 

“Talk.” He orders her and pours himself another drink. 

Nami swirls the drink around in her glass, piecing her thoughts together before speaking. 

“They caught me, after they’d finished with you I guess. I wanted to go back for you but I knew you’d be furious if I did, so I ran. But I still had my collar on, so they tracked me and caught me, I gave them a run for their money though.” Nami smiles and Zoro can’t help but smile with her, he bets that she did.

“I started the fire at Arlong’s place, made it so he couldn’t escape. Only… I didn’t get out in time, I breathed in too much smoke… I passed out just as the fire crews arrived but I was confused and disoriented enough for them to take me to the hospital.” Nami continues with a frown.

“You met Victoria Cindry, the nurse with the collar.” Zoro adds over the rim of his own glass. Nami glances up at him in surprise.

“Yes, how did you-?”

“I’ve met her too, go on. She helped you escape.” He says, leaning back in the lounger. 

“Well, yeah. I ran, but the institute’s guards were already suspicious about the fire, I think Cindry kept them away as long as she could but they knew who they were looking for, they knew that I’d run before. There’s only so far you can go on foot and so many places that you can hide you know?” Nami frowns into her glass. Zoro hadn’t considered that, if he’d run from Sanji when he was in the hospital perhaps they would have caught him too, then where would he be? Probably in Blackbeard’s cold dark clutches by now, perish the thought. 

“A car pulled up and the woman in it offered me a ride, she wasn’t institute so I leapt at the chance. I’d thought it was just a regular car until it flew off, then I realised just how rich this woman was.” Nami sighs and refills her glass.

“Robin.” Zoro fills in with a nod. 

“Robin.” Nami agrees quietly.

“She offered me a deal. I accepted, I wanted to but I didn’t have much choice anyway. If I didn’t I was on my own. She knew everything about me, everything about us. She said she would help me, hide me from the institute and help to bring them down. She also promised that she’d keep an eye on you for me, she was the one who put Chopper through college, she helped him get the job there so that the institute wouldn’t be so awful and she had a man on the inside. She promised me that she’d keep you safe.” She explains softly. 

“She’s trying to destroy the institute and everyone involved in it in one go, she has fingers in so many pies you wouldn’t believe.” Nami says shaking her head. Zoro thinks of Robin’s powers and considers that actually he could believe it.

“So what did you do for her?” he questions curiously.

“Different things. It helped that I’d somehow become a legend, I showed up often enough to let people know I was alive, the institute faked my death of course but if the mates knew they might try to escape too. As well as that she had me steal the institute’s bank records and the records of all of its board members, that way we know where their money is going and we’ll know how to hit them where it hurts.” She explains. 

“I didn’t want to tell you I was alive because I knew they were watching you closely. You’re a terrible liar and if they knew that you knew well, we know who you would have ended up with.” Nami says with a shudder and Zoro nods, they would have just given him to Blackbeard right off instead of Sanji. 

“So Robin and I tried to protect you. Although I guess she couldn’t stop you from being bought, even Chopper can be overruled.” Nami adds, her fingers brushing the padlock at Zoro’s throat.

“She hardly stopped it. She was the one who picked me out for Sanji, she manipulated Spandam’s orders to make sure that I was the one that got selected for him.” He replies with a frown. 

Nami’s fingers freeze at his throat and her eyes widen in shock. 

“You didn’t know, Robin is the reason I’m here.” He states obviously. Nami’s hand snaps into a fist and she glares at the ground furiously. 

“No.” She manages after a second.

“Well, she’s done playing with us both. Let’s get out of here.” The redhead declares standing up suddenly. 

“Wait, leave? I can’t leave.” Zoro says staring up at her in surprise. Nami stares back down at him with a frown.

“Sure you can, we’ll steal one of his cars and drive to Cindry. She’ll help break you free, we’ll drive to freedom, ditch the car, pick up Ace and Luffy, steal another and get the hell out of here!” Nami huffs as if he’s being stupid. She tugs on his hand to try to pull him to his feet but Zoro isn’t going to move.

“I’m not leaving without Sanji.” He says flatly. 

“What?” Nami gawps at him in disbelief. 

Zoro sighs and gets to his feet, scrubbing a frustrated hand through his hair. He really doesn’t want to have to have this conversation again, it was bad enough with Ace.

“Look, I know what you must think of Sanji but he’s not like that. He’s not laid a finger on me, he’s honest and kind, he’s really not what you think or what I expected. He doesn’t want this situation any more than I do, he’s just as much a victim here.” Zoro explains wearily. 

Nami is staring at him like he’s lost his mind, she seems too shocked by his words that she’s actually rendered speechless for a few moments – a first for her.

“Are you insane?! We’re talking about the same man here, Sanji Prince?! The Sanji Prince?!” Nami squawks in horror.

“Yes! Look, you don’t know him like I do. Just… take a minute to get to know him, I’ll go get him if you like, you’ll see what I mean.” Zoro offers, stepping towards the house. Nami seizes his arm though to stop him. 

“Are you crazy?! You know who he is!” She hisses at him. 

“Yeah, I do. Unlike you and Ace who have completely the wrong idea about Sanji!” he retorts angrily, why does everyone think he’s too dumb to know his own mind about someone?

“You don’t know who he is… I don’t believe this, he’s-” Nami fumes

“Please don’t.” Sanji’s voice cuts across them.

Zoro looks over to see Sanji step into the moonlight by the pool, next to him Nami growls and pulls loose her blue weapon. She levels it threateningly at Sanji and Zoro can hear the crackle of lightning in the air around it.

“Nami don’t! How long have you been there?” He demands glaring at Sanji, he doesn’t like eavesdroppers.

“Only a moment or two, I heard you two talking and figured that this must be Nami. I thought it might have been when I saw your face earlier tonight when she broke into the party. So I thought I’d come introduce myself, offer her a place to hide if she needed it. Then I heard what you were talking about…” Sanji answers quietly. Zoro spots that he too has a glass in his hand, it seems like he had just come out to say hi.

“Don’t move you bastard!” Nami threatens him with her weapon.

“Nami!” Zoro snaps, shoving her weapon aside. He’s been on the receiving end of an accidental shock from that thing and seen it’s deliberate destructive power first hand, so he’s less than comfortable with it being pointed at Sanji. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Zoro, you don’t know him!” she shouts and levels her weapon back at Sanji. The blonde obligingly raises his hands in surrender. 

“I know him! You’re the one who’s making rash judgements!” Zoro snaps, standing between them. If Nami won’t lower her weapon then she damn well won’t shoot through him. 

“Get out of the way Zoro! He’s been lying to you, and I can’t believe that you were dumb enough to believe it!” Nami growls, not lowering her weapon.

Zoro bristles at her words. It was bad enough Ace accusing him of being stupid and brainwashed by Sanji, but Nami too? He opens his mouth to scream at Nami but someone else gets there first.

“She’s… she’s right Zoro.” Sanji’s voice says quietly behind him. 

“What are you talking about?” Zoro questions turning to face the blonde.

“Yeah Sir Prince, why don’t you tell him?” Nami taunts.

It’s dark out but even in the night he can see Sanji’s guilty expression in the moonlight, the same as he saw in the car earlier. 

“When you first got here I thought you knew, I really did and the more you told me about your past… I thought that’s why you didn’t trust me. Then I realised later that you didn’t know, but by then you’d started to like me a little and… I know it sounds awful but no one treats me like you do. Usopp and Franky… they’re my friends but I can’t ever get away from the fact that they also work for me, and everyone else is so isolated by money or politics. But you… you just saw me.” Sanji says quietly, not able to look Zoro in the eye and instead looking off to the side.

“I… I wanted to tell you, I did. I didn’t like lying to you but… well you never outright asked and I guess I was pretty spineless. I didn’t want to lose you, especially after everything.” Sanji insists looking at him pleadingly this time.

“Tell me what?” Zoro demands irritably, Sanji’s just talked around whatever it is and told him nothing. 

“Spit it out!” Nami agrees angrily behind him. 

“Well… my father he’s… I mean, his company- the company that I hate, you know that. I just… it’s… well…” Sanji tries hesitantly.

“It’s the institute Zoro. You’re looking at Sir Prince of The Royal Institute, the heir to that entire ill-gotten fortune.” Nami says venomously behind him. Sanji shoots her a sharp look, clearly irritated about being interrupted. 

“What?” Zoro reels, no, he can’t be. He looks over to Sanji, desperate to hear him deny it, to hear him laugh at the ridiculous idea that he could be behind the institute but Sanji just looks sullen and guilty. 

“Sanji…” He breathes, begging for the other man to say something, anything, to prove Nami’s words false.

“She’s right.” Sanji mumbles unhappily. 

“You lied to me!” Zoro roars furiously. Sanji doesn’t deny it, doesn’t move an inch, doesn’t say anything. He flies across the distance between them and grabs the blonde by the collar, he hears the glass fly from Sanji’s hand and shatter on the pavement as he throws the man against the wall of the house and holds him there. He pulls his fist back sharply, ready to lay it into Sanji’s face. 

Sanji doesn’t do anything to resist, every muscle seems lax and his eyes closed, as if resigned to his fate. Zoro’s hand stills, he remembers Sanji’s words from the car, the blonde said that he wouldn’t stop him when he vowed to cut the throats of everyone involved with the institute. Sanji said they deserved it, he meant that… that he deserved it. 

His fist sinks down to his side as he stares at Sanji.

“I know who you are.” He says finally. The blonde opens his eyes warily, the flash of blue shining in the night. 

He releases Sanji’s collar and lets the other man drop to his feet. The cook looks at him in surprise and he doesn’t need to turn around to know that Nami is giving him the same shocked look. 

“You’re the same person you were yesterday. You’re kind and you’re caring and dumb as a bag of fucking hammers. Seriously, how long did you think that you’d be able to keep me from finding out?!” He demands angrily.

“I don’t know! Hopefully indefinitely? I was a coward okay?! I couldn’t bear the thought of you hating me!” Sanji argues defensively. 

“I’m impressed that he managed to pull it off for this long. They talked about the Prince family in class all the time.” Nami adds in a patronising voice.

“You know I never listened to that crap.” Zoro argues, shooting her a glare. She doesn’t need to make him look dumb in front of Sanji.

“Even so it’s the Royal institute, he’s Sir Prince, how hard is that?” Nami points out.

“Shut it.” He snaps and turns back to Sanji. The blonde looks at him with a ray of hope in his eye, as if he thinks that things might just work out. Zoro rolls his eyes and punches Sanji hard right in the ribs with his good hand.

“That’s for lying to me.” He adds and turns back to Nami. She’s standing with her blue pole-type weapon in her hand and the most perplexed and angry expression on her face, it’d be almost comical if the situation wasn’t so serious. 

“That’s it?!” She demands angrily.

“Oi, calm down. Even if he did lie he’s still just Sanji, he’s not his father and he doesn’t want to be here any more than I do. The only reason he has anything to do with his father is because Spandam has threatened to destroy the people that Sanji actually considers family. He dragged him away from his real home as a kid, Sanji’s life has been ruined by that bastard almost as much as ours have.” Zoro explains calmly. 

“I doubt that! Don’t you remember being in the institute?! Don’t you remember Cabaji?!” Sanji screeches furiously and raises her weapon with intent written on her face. Zoro thumps her on the top of the head and shoves her weapon aside.

“Knock it off. I’m not playing ‘who had the worst childhood’ here. And Sanji was the one who just got Cabaji fired.” He chides her.

“What?” Nami stares at Sanji in disbelief. 

“I’d rather have kicked the shit out of him after I read what he wrote about Zoro but it was better than nothing.” Sanji says with a shrug as he rubs his sore ribs from where Zoro had just punched him. 

“So he did one good thing, but he’s sitting here living off of money that he’s made from our suffering, from the suffering of our friends!” Nami accuses angrily.

“Hey, now that isn’t true!” Sanji protests, clearly offended.

Sanji looks from one to the other, both of them looking at him imploringly to believe him. He narrows his eyes at Sanji. 

“Go on then.” He says, arching an eyebrow at the blonde. 

“I have my own money, as soon as I got away from my father I took a small portion of the money he gave me, only half a million Beli or so, and invested it. I happened to do quite well and live off of that. My father’s money goes into its own account and I give it away as fast as I can, charities, that sort of thing.” Sanji says in an uppity voice, as if having to justify himself to Nami is degrading. Zoro supposes that it must be a little.

“Well, you’re the one rooting through everyone’s accounts by the sounds of it. Does that sound right?” He asks, looking pointedly at Nami. 

“Well, it… it’s probably some sort of cover up for something. That’s what I’d figured.” Nami mutters in embarrassment, looking away. 

“But he… I mean… he can’t be…” she mumbles, her cheeks reddening.

“You were wrong for a change, get over it. Now put that thing away before you hurt someone, probably me.” Zoro says, pushing her weapon away from his and Sanji’s direction. Nami obligingly dismantles the blue weapon, although she still looks at Sanji suspiciously. 

Silence falls between the three of them and Zoro wonders just how much the blonde heard. He looks over at Sanji who is still pouting and rubbing his side. 

“I need to go, I can’t stay here.” Nami announces suddenly as she picks her mask up from the floor.

“What? Why? You only just got here, if it’s about Sanji you can trust him.” Zoro frowns at her, he doesn’t want to see her go so soon, especially after meeting her again after so long. 

“Even if I can, it’s not just him. Lord Prince could well be watching this location, especially if he doesn’t trust his only son as much as he pretends to. It was enough of a risk coming here when it was just you, let alone more people. You know where to find me.” Nami nods at him. She does up her mask and before Zoro can fully protest she disappears into the night. Zoro squints into the tree line but accepts that Nami is long gone. 

“What does she mean by that? Where’s she going?” Sanji asks, appearing warily at Zoro’s side as if worried about being punched again. 

“She’ll be at Robin’s where she’s apparently been this whole time. I think Robin’s been behind more of this than we know. Tomorrow we’re seeing her and getting this set straight.” Zoro answers in a tone that brokers no argument. 

He grabs their empty glasses and bottles, steps around Sanji’s smashed one and makes his way back inside. He places the glasses and bottles on the counter in the dark and with a tired sigh he heads upstairs. Sanji is right behind him but for some reason remains silent until they get to their hallway. 

“Do… do you ever feel like something is going too well?” Sanji blurts out suddenly into the dark silence. Zoro turns to Sanji but can barely see the man in the dark, he leans into his room and flicks the light on, illuminating Sanji in the hallway enough to see.

“I just feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, for you to realise that there’s no way you can live with me knowing who I am. That or I’ll wake up to you slitting my throat, not that I wouldn’t deserve it, after all I put that collar on you.” Sanji mumbles unhappily. 

“Unless you were making really big corporate decisions as a kid, you don’t deserve it and you didn’t put this collar on me. I’ve spent enough time defending you to people today to be bothered to do it to you as well.” Zoro grumbles irritably. First Ace, then Nami, now he has to tell Sanji what he’s like? He’s starting to feel like a broken record. 

“I’m here because I know who you really are.” He adds with a sigh. Then, because he’s still feeling a little vindictive about Sanji lying to him he decides to be a little mean. He snags the cook’s tie and pulls him forward, their hips bump as Sanji stumbles against him, he hooks his fingers into Sanji’s belt loop to stop the cook going anywhere.

“Besides,” he murmurs into the blonde’s ear, “if I was going to cut your throat in your sleep you wouldn’t wake up to it.” 

With that he grins, releases Sanji and slides into his room, closing the door immediately after him. 

“Very comforting, you bastard!” Sanji shouts from the other side of the door, kicking it hard enough to make it shudder against its hinges. Zoro snickers to himself and decides to finally go to bed. His room is thankfully glass free now, although there’s a big wooden board over where his window was, he supposes even someone as rich as Sanji can’t get a window that big repaired completely in less than a day. 

He slides under the covers and relaxes muscle by muscle, wriggling his body every so often as his joints loosen more. As his body relaxes his mind starts running over the whole day. The fight with Ace was pretty nasty and he’s not sure that he wants to speak to Ace for some time yet, intellectually he knows that Ace didn’t mean what he said but he still said it with the deliberate intent of hurting him. So, with that in mind, Ace can either suck it up and apologise to him in person soon or he can wait until Zoro feels magnanimous enough to forgive him. He might have to wait a little while. 

As for Sanji being the heir to the Institute well that… that was a fucking surprise that was for sure. Though, looking back on it the clues were there, and if he’d paid attention in class he would have known. He doesn’t regret his decision to stay with Sanji now that he knows though, Sanji is so unlike his asshole of a father that it’s almost comical. Still… would he have thought of Sanji so nicely if he’d known the truth from the beginning? 

He stretches his neck a little and digs his fingers under his collar to rub at the ever sore muscles underneath it. When he first got here he was convinced that Sanji was a bastard rapist like the rest of them, and if he’d known that Sanji had effectively owned him before Zoro was signed over to him well… he’s not sure that he would have let the other man in. He’s not sure he would have been able to forgive him and seen the man’s good qualities. He’d like to think that he wouldn’t have just shut Sanji out but… well… with the way his life has gone so far he’s probably entitled to hold a few grudges against people, Sanji’s entire family for starters. 

A flash of Sanji’s body pressed against him in the hallway flashes through his mind. Despite himself Zoro grins, he doesn’t want to hold a grudge against Sanji, but there’s plenty else that he’d like to hold against the other man.

 

Zoro has always been apathetic about coffee, he likes it well enough, it can be good to wake you up and it goes nicely with some foods but on the whole he can take it or leave it. Right now however he hates it, he hates it because coffee is the excuse that Robin is using not to talk to them. The four of them, Robin, Sanji, Nami and him are all sat in Robin’s conservatory as the dark haired woman goes about pouring coffee and not answering their questions. 

She pours a cup for Sanji, then him and then Nami. The then proceeds to offer cream which he and Nami tersely refuse. Seeing that this is going nowhere Nami pulls a flask from her bra and sloshes it in offer at Zoro who gratefully nods as Nami spikes both of their drinks. Robin shoots them both a disapproving look. 

“Sugar?” Robin offers equally sweetly.

“Oh, no thank you.” Sanji answers politely.

“Just ANSWER the goddamn question already!” Nami yells, leaning forwards and slamming her small fists on the table. Robin gives her an icy look. 

“Manners.” She says simply and leans back in her chair and takes a sip of her coffee. 

“My flower, as much as I hate to press you, it would be nice to have some answers. Why did you make a deal with Nami and why didn’t you tell us about it? How come you paired Zoro and I together? What’s going on here?” Sanji presses gently. Zoro rolls his eyes, Sanji is hopeless when it comes to women. 

“Sanji, I can only answer one question at a time.” Robin points out delicately and plucks a plate from the table. Zoro’s eye twitches, no one ever claimed otherwise!

“Biscotti?” She offers with a smile. 

Zoro knows enough to throw out his arm to stop Nami from simply leaping the table and strangling Robin. Nami’s fuse has always been incredibly short, more so when she thinks that people are messing with her. 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Zoro suggests as calmly as he can manage through gritted teeth. 

Robin hums around her coffee cup for a moment before straightening up in her chair and tapping her mouth with a napkin delicately. 

“Before any of you were born Spandam Prince, he wasn’t a lord then, dabbled in weapons and warfare. Apparently he felt like he wasn’t a terrible enough human being already. At that time I was living on the island of Ohara, where I was born.” Robin explains simply, as if discussing the weather. 

“Ohara, in West Blue? Wasn’t that where that big natural disaster happened?” Nami pipes up curiously. Robin shoots the redhead a sharp look.

“Do you want me to explain or not?” Robin says primly. 

“Ah, go on my dove.” Sanji smiles soothingly. With her fittingly metaphorical feathers un-ruffled Robin continues speaking. 

“The people there were mostly researchers, primarily archaeology but history too, there were some philosophers, it was all very academic. We were passionate about knowledge and learning from the past, our goal was to understand the past so as to better shape the future.” Robin says leaning back in her chair and looking up at the glass conservatory roof. For a moment she is quiet and only the pitter-patter of rain on the glass can be heard.

“A few researchers, my mother among them, started pointing out that mates were a relatively new convention and that in previous times this would have been considered slavery. They put forward research about societies in the past that have used slavery and sexual slavery in particular to control classes of people less valued by society. All of these societies eventually crumbled or were destroyed from the inside out. At best a few had managed to reform from the inside and become different societies, ours being one of them although it was a very long time ago.” Robin says academically. 

“Spandam didn’t like that, he threatened to shut us down but my mother was adamant that her research and that of her colleagues wasn’t a threat and was based in academic fact, we had all the books a research to back it up in our library. It was indisputable.” She explains, running her finger around the edge of her coffee cup. 

“He used a weapon that he had his company develop called Buster Call. It destroyed everyone and everything on the island, I am the only survivor.” Robin states in a clinical tone of voice as she stares up at the glass above her. 

“That can’t be-” Sanji begins but Zoro quickly elbows him in the ribs.

“Shut up. How often have you said that about your father since you met me?” Zoro challenges the blonde man quietly. Sanji looks pale and sick.

“But… that’s genocide!” Sanji breathes shakily.

“Stellar man your father. So, continue.” Nami prompts gently.

“Needless to say, I want to destroy your father completely and I am not the only one.” Robin says simply and drinks her coffee.

“Franky. You… you had something to do with Franky finding Sanji.” Zoro says as the realisation suddenly comes to him.

“Hm, yes. He is very useful to me, as Sanji’s staff he’s left unattended with everyone else’s staff from the institute and other important people, he hears things that others don’t and tells me everything. Our initial plan had been to destroy Spandam through Sanji by killing him, imagine our surprise to find out just how far the apple can fall from the tree.” Robin smiles at Sanji. 

The blonde stares at her in shock, Zoro’s pretty surprised as well and he’s not sure that he’s ever heard a compliment and a death threat all mixed up in the same sentence before. 

“So how does that involve us?” Zoro frowns, indicating himself and Nami.

“Well, with our initial plan faulted by Sanji I had to come up with someone new. And finding that Nami had escaped all on her own was a coup in itself, if mates started escaping and killing their masters left right and centre the institute would go bankrupt immediately. Spandam was quick enough to fake Nami’s death before I could get a plan in motion, I hadn’t counted on her whereas he clearly had to some extent. Still, Nami is incredibly astute with money so we’ve started to work towards bringing the board down financially, that’s only part of the plan though.” Robin concedes. 

“News to me, I thought that was the entire plan.” Nami says darkly as she leans back in her chair and crosses her legs with an unimpressed expression on her face.

“I only told you what you needed to know.” Robin explains with a sigh and rises to her feet. She walks to the window and looks out into the rain.

“I didn’t tell either of you two anything because it worked best if you didn’t know.” she continues, glancing over her shoulder at Zoro and Sanji.

“You’re both such terrible liars, you see. And it needs to be genuine.” She says thoughtfully. 

“What does?” Sanji questions with a frown.

“Like I said, I don’t want to destroy society, just the institute, your father, and everyone involved. The best way for that to change is from the inside out, for the system to be peacefully dissolved. But movements like that… they always require a catalyst and a figurehead. They need an example, every great movement has one. Think of every revolution or advancement of rights in history, there are always central characters in that story, and you two are ours.” Robin declares looking at them coolly. 

“Us?” Zoro exclaims in disbelief. 

“You.” Robin nods as she returns to her chair. 

“Sanji isn’t just the heir to the institute, he’s the metaphorical embodiment of its future. A public story of love and equality will change the system, Spandam is already considered freakish enough by the general public to represent the institute as we reveal it to be. All you have to do is be the poster boys for the future.” Robin smiles cunningly. 

“And what does that involve exactly?” Zoro questions suspiciously. 

“Just be… adorable, in love, that sort of thing. You two already have enough natural chemistry to convince everyone, assuming that you’re putting up any kind of façade at all already.” Robin smiles with a surreptitious look on her face. Zoro doesn’t like what Robin is implying, even if it has made Sanji go a comical shade of red. 

“It doesn’t matter to you if we want to go along with your plan or not does it? Unless he starts publicly treating me like Spandam would then your plan still works, we don’t get a choice.” Zoro says slowly as the full scale of the web that Robin has woven becomes clear to him. Her Cheshire smile tells him all that he needs to know. 

“As if you don’t want to destroy the institute too, what does it cost you to help?” Robin points out cleverly. 

“I’m nobody’s dog to yank around and do tricks on command, regardless of what the collar implies.” He growls at her angrily. 

“Come on Zoro, I’ve heard enough. I’d thought that we were friends Robin.” Sanji declares in a tearful tone as he gets to his feet. 

“We are friends Sanji.” Robin says in a surprised tone. 

“No, I considered you a friend, you consider me a pawn.” Sanji retorts with more spine than Zoro is used to him showing to women. 

“It’s not personal, everyone is a pawn.” Robin answers quietly, her fingers wrapping around her coffee cup.

“That hurts!” Sanji exclaims, clearly upset.

“Get used to it. Life is pain princess.” Nami says flatly.

“Anyone who says differently is selling something.” Zoro agrees finishing the quote. 

“I’m in, not that I have much choice.” Zoro sighs in agreement. 

“Agreed.” Nami nods.


	14. Chapter 14

Sanji sits on his balcony in his boxers and watches the sun rise, it’s cold out but he doesn’t really care. He feels lonely, he understands why Robin did what she did, why she kept the truth from him, why she manipulated him and Zoro. He really does. But… it still hurts, he still feels sad and desperately lonely, it’s proof that yet another person sees him as a means to something instead of just who he is. 

As always his mind flickers to Zoro and he’s reminded that somehow this man who’s not even been in his life a whole month yet seems to see right through everything to his true nature. When he remembers Zoro finding out who he was, he can still feel the heat of Zoro’s hand against his chest and the threatening raised fist, the one that fell and didn’t strike him, the assertion Zoro gave him that he wasn’t his father. He remembers being pulled against Zoro and just wishing to stay there. 

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to force the thoughts away. Everyone is right, he does hate his father and he would be happy to see his company destroyed, he owes that much to Zoro and Franky anyway, as well as just to humanity in general. So he should be behind the plan. It seems simple enough to play along with Robin’s idea, and as Zoro pointed out they don’t have much choice anyway. How hard is it to act in public as if he has what he already wants the most? He already has a great relationship with Zoro, they’re friends and they see each other for who they are but… but he has to pretend that they have more than that. He has to pretend that a stolen kiss in high spirits wasn’t an exception but the rule. He has to pretend that he and Zoro really are together. He wants that kind of relationship with Zoro for real so much it frightens him. But until Zoro expresses an interest in him more than just reacting and without him being under the influence of something then he’s not going to pursue this. It’s not right. 

He could easily make himself believe that Zoro did want him, Zoro kissed him back after all, and Zoro had kissed him at the hospital. Not to mention all of the things that he’d begged for and offered when he was handcuffed. But that was it, the status of those incidents were all questionable, every one of them. Zoro’s system had either been compromised or he was just responding to something that Sanji had started. Zoro was a much better actor than him and whilst he trusted Zoro he was still paranoid enough to worry that his lifetime of training by the institute might have dulled his ability to turn his master down. He would hate to try to start something with Zoro only to find that Zoro had just gone along with it because he didn’t know how to say no, or didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Zoro had to go more than just respond, if anything was going to happen between them Zoro was going to have to be the one to start it. And if Sanji was being honest, that wasn’t going to happen, after all why would Zoro want him? 

Sanji was skinny and sort of strong and when it came to people who had a thing for skinny blondes he did okay, lots of people liked slight guys like him and he could look pretty good in a suit. But he was far from pretty and not rugged enough to be handsome like Zoro was, he wasn’t heavily muscled like Zoro either. His skin was pale and ghostly unlike Zoro’s exotic bronze. All in all Zoro was exotically gorgeous and he was just… Sanji. Ace was clearly what Zoro went for in men, and Sanji didn’t look a damn thing like Ace. And as much as he hates Ace he can’t deny that the man has abs that you could bounce pennies off of, wild hair, sexy freckles and tanned muscles that were almost as impressive as Zoro’s. Zoro already had a sexual relationship with Ace, Luffy had told him as much yesterday when they escaped from Ace and Zoro’s fight. So why would Zoro give all that up to be with someone like Sanji who clearly wasn’t his type? 

He puts his hand on his stomach and ignores the flip flop of his gut that the thought of being with Zoro gives him. He remembers the dark excited look that Zoro had when he’d drunk that red drink, the way he’d looked at Sanji like he really wanted him. Sanji would give anything for Zoro to look at him like that sober, but it wasn’t going to happen. If he had any sense he’d forget the idea and just enjoy their relationship for what it was, platonic. Though it’d be easier to forget it if he wasn’t clearly aware that he was going to have to fake having a romantic relationship with Zoro in public from now on. He’d settle in private and act out his hopes in public pretending that they were reality, great.

He sighs sadly to himself and goes back into his room, he throws on a too large sweater and jeans, feeling sorry for himself. He knows that he should start breakfast, at least Zoro always seemed to like his foor. He heads out into the corridor and almost runs right into Zoro who’s shutting his bedroom door. The other man is wearing a sleek dark green coat that’s got an almost velvety texture to it, it fits him perfectly, Sanji might just be over enamoured but he swears that Zoro could have walked right out of a magazine. He notices the bag at Zoro’s hip and puts two and two together.

“You’re going out?” Sanji asks surprised, it’s early though…

“Mmm.” Zoro says in agreement around one of Sanji’s pastries in his mouth. Sanji’s stomach does a clench of horror as he realises that Zoro might have been up and hungry waiting for breakfast whilst Sanji was sitting in his room feeling sorry for himself. 

“I know it’s early but I didn’t want to wake you, thought I’d set off early and have the whole day. I’ll be out for lunch, so don’t wait for me or anything.” Zoro says, removing the pastry from his mouth and swallowing the bite he’d taken. There’s a flake of pastry on his lower lip that Sanji wants to lick off, he shakes the thought off.

“I- where are you off to?” He asks curiously and catches the flash of discomfort across Zoro’s face which is quickly displaced by a neutral mask.

“To see Luffy and Ace.” Zoro says simply. Sanji’s stomach sinks at the mention of Ace so soon after his earlier thoughts, perhaps Zoro misses his lover. Why wouldn’t he? Zoro has been cooped up with only really Sanji for company since he got here. 

“Oh.” He manages, trying to keep control of how disappointed his voice sounds. He’s successful at sounding merely displeased.

“I know, I know. Believe me, I’m still pissed at him but… well… I’m feeling unusually forgiving today. Besides, Kuina and I used to fight all the time when we were kids, we both said some pretty nasty things to each other. I figured we had a lifetime to calm down and say sorry after each fight, and then one day she cracked her head open like a watermelon.” Zoro says with a bitter scowl.

“You think Ace is going to die or something if you don’t forgive him?” Sanji questions, dearly hoping that he might and then feeling awful for thinking so.

“No, but… you never know. Besides, I know Ace and I know he didn’t mean what he said. And I’m sure the black eye I gave him is punishment enough. So I’m going to walk over there and let him apologise and grovel a bit before I let it go. He’s a nice guy deep down, really.” Zoro smiles gently at Sanji and bites into his breakfast again. 

Sanji’s insides coil unpleasantly with jealousy. He shoves it down and decides to irritate Zoro instead as that’s he’s default setting. 

“You’re going to walk there? Are you sure you won’t get lost?” He teases.

“Fuck you cook, anyway, I could use the walk to calm down. It’ll be a wasted trip if I show up, punch him again and leave.” Zoro smirks back. Sanji imagines that, remembering the sight of Ace fleeing the direction of Zoro’s room the other day. The dark haired man had glared at him hatefully, his face raw from Zoro’s punch, he had then gone and defaced Sanji’s lawn but there you go. It gives him a sick kind of pleasure to imagine Zoro just smacking the freckled bastard again, his own mouth stretches into a mirror grin of Zoro’s.

“Anyway, later cook.” Zoro waves at him over his shoulder and saunters off down the hallway. 

“Yeah… later.” Sanji answers weakly. He clenches his jaw and stays put as Zoro walks away. He’s not sure if he opens his mouth again that he can resist the temptation to yell out to Zoro not to go, to beg for Zoro to choose him instead. Zoro disappears from sight and Sanji whines pitifully to himself. He’s got it bad when it comes to Zoro, he should have known that the other man would be trouble for him the moment he saw him, he supposes that Robin is a rather cunning manipulator after all. 

He throws together a half assed breakfast for Franky and Usopp and retires to his office like a wounded animal slinking off to lick its wounds. 

He is in love with Zoro, there’s no point making any bones about it, at least not to himself. He’d thought he’d been in love with people before but that was nothing compared to this, every inch of him craves Zoro more than even his damn cigarettes and knowing that Zoro is off with Ace right now cuts him deeply. 

He’s slumped over his desk when Usopp comes in to find him some hours later. 

“What are you doing?” Usopp asks in an unimpressed tone.

“Nothin’.” Sanji answers petulantly, doodling on his fancy desk’s blotter with a thousand beli fountain pen. 

“So you’re sulking because Zoro’s out? I know you’re pretty hung up on him but he’s just gone out on his own, it’s not a big deal.” Usopp says disapprovingly.

“It is when he’s gone to see his lover.” Sanji retorts, thumping his forehead on the desk.

“Lover? I thought the institute only sold virgins, isn’t that part of their whole spiel?” Usopp frowns at him. Sanji looks up and winces, that sounds even seedier when Usopp puts it like that.

“Yeah well, Zoro doesn’t follow rules very well does he?” He grumbles and looks back down at the desk morosely. Who knew what Ace and Zoro could be up to right now? Who knew what wonderful sounds Ace might be coaxing out of Zoro? Certainly he doesn’t know. 

“Oh. I’m… oh. Sorry I guess.” Usopp says awkwardly.

He hears Usopp’s feet shuffle against the thick carpet in awkwardness.

“What is this? You’ve been giving away your money again? Feeling that bad huh?” Usopp comments on a different track. He looks over Sanji’s shoulder at the sprawl of cheques to charitable organisations that are spread out over his desk. Sanji shrugs, he always gives away his money or his father’s money when he’s feeling down, right now he’s giving a lot of it away. 

The phone ringing is just another irritating thing to a thoroughly depressing morning. He reaches for it across his desk. He has an implant in his ear bone, he forgets what it’s called, that lets him hear calls right in his head but he doesn’t like it, it feels too intimate for most people. He certainly never wants his father’s voice right inside his skull, his friends he’s happy to take calls like that but only sometimes.

“Hello?” He says grumpily.

“Sanji?” Zoro’s voice says in his ear.

“Zoro?” Sanji gasps sitting bolt upright with a pleased grin on his face. Usopp smirks at him and slides out of the room. Sanji grins and presses the button on the phone, now he can hear Zoro’s soft breathing and the sounds of traffic right in his head.

“Hey, uh… you okay?” Zoro asks kind of awkwardly. 

“Yeah, you?” Sanji answers, really hoping that he’s not with Ace. He hears someone else shout something in the background.

“Wh- I’ll cut your dick off first you bastard! Yeah, you’d better run! Fuck… ugh. Sanji, have I ever told you that I hate people?” Zoro growls angrily in his head.

“Dare I ask what just happened?” he asks with wide eyes, what did someone just say to Zoro to make him that angry that quickly?

“You don’t want to know. Let’s just say that if you ever feel like getting harassed by total strangers then feel free to wander around in public with a collar on. Everyone just treats you like… you know what? Never mind, let’s not talk about that.” The other man says with an angry huff of breath. 

“I’m sorry.” Sanji apologises quietly, bringing his knees up to his chest in his chair. He’s sorry both that Zoro has to experience that and that he’s also partly responsible for it. 

“Don’t be. Uh… hey… you know how the institute can track me through my collar?” Zoro begins quietly.

“Yeah.” Sanji frowns, where is Zoro going with this?

“Can you do that too?” Zoro asks.

“Hm, yeah. Hold on.” Sanji answers, digging around in his drawer for his computer tablet. He pulls it out and opens up the case, the screen instantly coming to life. He logs into the program that his father’s lackeys gave him just before he got Zoro. It boots up quickly and shows him a map of the city with a flashing dot where Zoro is.

“Yeah, I’m looking at you on a map right now. Why do you ask?” he says curiously. Zoro grumbles noncommittally in his head and on impulse Sanji hits the history tab that’s displayed under the map. A green line stretches from Sanji’s house and around the city in a seemingly random path that lately has decreased into ever shrinking circles, Sanji can even see that Zoro has been exactly where he is now three different times. Zoro must have walked miles today!

“You’re lost.” He laughs loudly.

“I am NOT! The streets just keep moving!” Zoro protests angrily inside of Sanji’s skull. He can’t help but laugh louder though, his total lack of direction is almost adorable and it also means that he’s not spent all morning having mind blowing sex with Ace, a fact that makes Sanji endlessly happy. 

“Look, if I give you Luffy’s address will you just tell me where to go and stop fucking laughing?!” Zoro snaps irritably and starts walking again, the dot on Sanji’s screen moving. 

“Sure, sure.” He sniggers. 

“It’s eighteen mountain path.” Zoro answers smoothly. Sanji smiles to himself and looks the address up. 

“Hm, turn around marimo, you’re going the wrong way.” Sanji purrs with a grin. 

“Seriously?” Zoro questions warily. Sanji nods, then feels stupid because Zoro can’t see him and instead hums in agreement. 

“Great. Just… great.” The other man grumbles and heads back the way he came, the dot on Sanji’s screen going back on its previous path. 

“So… I can give you directions as you’re going if you like?” Sanji offers, sliding down in his seat and watching the Zoro dot on his screen.

“Sure.” The man grunts, clearly irritated about being lost. 

“Left here.” Sanji instructs and the dot on his screen follows, thankfully to the left.

“So, what have you been doing while I’ve been walking around the city?” Zoro asks after a pause. Sanji bites his lip to hold back the grin because Zoro simply caring how he spends his time shouldn’t do this to him. 

“Giving away my money to charities.” Sanji answers instantly, hoping that the answer will please Zoro and then hating himself a little for caring quite this much about Zoro’s opinion of him. 

“Oh? How much are we talking about here? Will bailiffs have kicked you out when I get back home? Will we be penniless on the streets? If you can always stay at Luffy and Ace’s with me.” Zoro teases, although the thought of Zoro living with Ace sours Sanji’s mind.

“No, we will not.” He answers tersely. 

“Well- oh. Speaking of charities I’m just on the corner where Revolution’s head office is.” Zoro remarks, in the background Sanji can hear traffic stopping and sees that Zoro is crossing the street. He frowns, the name is familiar.

“I know that name.” He says slowly, trying to remember where from.

“You should, they’re an anti-slavery and social justice charity. They do a lot of work abroad but also an awful lot of work here trying to make slavery illegal here and protesting your father’s company.” Zoro’s voice says with a pleased rumble that shoots straight to Sanji’s groin. He bites his lip and wants to be a part of anything that Zoro speaks about with that much admiration in his voice. 

“What were they called again?” He asks, leaning forward and grabbing his chequebook and pen. 

“Revolution, why?” Zoro asks, the note of interest clear in his voice. 

“Just writing a cheque to give them an obscene amount of money.” Sanji smiles as he adds lots of zeros to the number he’s written. 

“I look forward to hearing about that later.” Zoro says inside Sanji’s head in a voice that could easily be talking about sex. Sanji isn’t sure if Zoro means that to sound sexy or if that’s just how his voice always sounds to him now.

“Oh, hey! I know where I am from here now! This isn’t too far from the institute and I can get there easily from there!” Zoro announces, sounding unreasonably pleased with himself. Sanji glances down and sees that Zoro is right, it’s more or less a straight shot from where he is now. 

Zoro hangs up then and Sanji pouts, he wanted to talk to Zoro some more, but he supposes that Zoro is eager to get to Ace. Depressed once again Sanji slides back down further into his chair, puts all the cheques in envelopes with the standard notes saying the he supports their cause and so on, although in the Revolution’s envelope he adds “if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know” and puts them in a pile to get Usopp to post them later. 

Because he’s feeling a little depressed and vindictive he makes Usopp go deliver his cheques by hand rather than simply posting them. As pathetic as it is the anxiety in his chest doesn’t quite go away until Zoro returns. Sanji is in the kitchen at the time cooking when he hears the front door open and shut with familiar laughing voices ringing through the hallway. Sanji tilts his head and recognises Zoro’s deep soothing voice instantly, the higher more animated voice he manages to place to Luffy. He strains his ears as he nonchalantly chops vegetables but only hears two sets of footsteps. 

“You’ll have to ask him if he’ll feed you himself, you did nearly empty his fridge last time you were here.” Zoro laughs as he enters the room. Sanji feels his face heat as Zoro peels off his soft green coat, revealing the tight black sweatshirt he has on underneath. Zoro’s eyes flick over to him and his brightens with a flash of genuine warmth at seeing Sanji, the blonde has never felt quite so special as he does when Zoro looks at him. And yes, he’s a sap, he knows that thank-you-very-much, but this is a bit much even for him. Even for Sir Prince, renown for turning into a wiggling wet noodle for anything with sexy eyes that deigns to bat their eyelashes at him, going soft on the inside from just a mere ‘pleased to see you’ smile. 

“SANJI! Will you feed me?!” Luffy demands, hurling himself at Sanji and wrapping rubbery arms around his waist. 

“Sure, now sit down or you won’t get anything.” Sanji orders, pointing to the table. Luffy eagerly bounds away and looks at him brightly and expectantly from the chair at the table, as if expecting to be fed instantly.

Zoro slides into the kitchen and into the space next to Sanji as if he’s always been there. He pulls down a glass, his finger hesitating on a second as Zoro’s golden eyes shoot him an unspoken question.

“Please.” Sanji nods and Zoro grins as he pulls down a second glass and fills them both with bourbon (the bottle claims that it’s whiskey but it really isn’t, even if it is nice). Sanji looks at him sidelong in secret through his hair and notes the way that Zoro’s cheeks are slightly red from the cold wind outside. Zoro flashes him a smile again and tilts his glass at Sanji before he drinks with his eyes shut, effectively melting Sanji into a puddle on the floor. 

“So, you got there in the end.” Sanji states rather than asks after he manages to get control of his brain again.

“Fuuuuck you.” Zoro retorts without any real venom and continues drinking. 

“So. How did it go?” He asks in as nonchalant voice as he can manage as he chops chicory at the speed of light. ‘It’ within the context of that sentence meaning: ‘Ace, that lucky bastard, I will kill him out of jealousy if I can find a way to do it without you ever knowing’. 

“Not even there, after all that.” Zoro snorts into his glass, something in Sanji’s chest unwinds all at once and suddenly he can breathe again. 

“But going there, even if he wasn’t there, means something. Probably means he’ll be a little more convinced about what I said about you.” Zoro adds thoughtfully. 

“What did you say about me? Should I be blushing?” Sanji teases instead. 

“That you’re not an abusive psycho and you let me go where I want when I want.” The swordsman answers flatly.

“You say the sweetest things.” Sanji snorts and slides the chicory into the pan of oil.

Zoro flips him off and is heading for the table that Luffy is sat at when the front door rings, he shrugs and heads off to get it. 

Sanji strains his ears but manages to categorise the unknown voice into the new mental category of ‘not Ace’. He’s curious though and is about to go investigate when Zoro’s lovely voice comments:

“It’s Sanji that you want, then, through here.” 

Zoro appears back in the kitchen with a strange man in tow behind him. The man seems to be wearing something that’s a mishmash between a swimsuit and a corset with entirely too much netting involved, he looks like he just fell off of the cover of the rocky horror picture show and all Sanji can manage to do is just stare in bewilderment. The man gives him a steely hard look which Zoro is oblivious to. 

“Iva-chan!” Luffy yelps excitedly, breaking the silence and flings himself at the man in a big rubbery hug.

“Mugiwara boy!” The man coos, spinning the rubber boy around in a huge hug. 

“You’re Ivank- oh of course you are! I wanted to thank you!” Zoro beams suddenly, making Sanji irrationally jealous in the way he is of anyone that Zoro beams like that at. 

“Who the hell is this?” Sanji demands with a frown. Zoro smiles at him, soothing Sanji’s ego a little, though he doesn’t miss the glare that this “Iva-chan” is still giving him. 

“This is Ivankov, he runs Revolution, the charitable organisation I told you about. He also got Luffy and Ace out of prison abroad a few years ago, stupid false charges really, but, all the same thanks.” Zoro says, directing that last part at Iva himself. 

“It was no problem, not for mugiwara-boy here.” The man responds with a kind smile at Luffy.

“What are you doing here Iva-chan?” Luffy asks delightedly. Sanji raises a curious eyebrow, what is this guy doing here? Someone else who wants to manipulate him into something, he’d thought that giving money to that charity would be enough, he didn’t expect to actually hear from anyone from it beyond a courtesy phone call or a nice card.

The blue haired man steps away from Luffy though and glares at Sanji across the kitchen counter top, on instinct Sanji turns the heat off on his food and stares back, knowing a challenge when he sees it. 

“I actually came here to tell Sir Prince here to shove this cheque up his ass, why would some slime bag who owns the institute give money to the revolution?” Ivankov says, pulling the cheque out and sliding it across the counter top with his long gloved nails. He doesn’t release it though, he keeps it pinned there like some small helpless creature.

“Well, first of all,” Sanji starts, flicking his lighter on to light his cigarette, “I don’t own the institute, my father does.” 

“Same thing.” Ivankov tuts, shaking his overly large head.

“No, there’s a big difference.” Zoro corrects, stepping around the counter to stand at Sanji’s side and scowl at Ivankov with a hand on his swords. Sanji appreciates the gesture and Ivankov certainly clocks the weapons, his dramatic eyebrows raising at the sight of them. 

“You’ve armed your mate? You’re using him as an unpaid bodyguard now are you? Or are you just putting him in harms way for fun? I’m surprised you still have a head, what’s he threatened you with to stay your blade green boy?” Ivankov asks with a scowl. 

“Zoro’s always been a swordsman, Sanji got him his swords back almost as soon as he got here. He’s not a bodyguard and he’s not being threatened either.” Luffy says with a smile in Sanji’s direction, Sanji smiles back and likes the straw hat kid a little more.

“Sanji hates the institute and Spandam just as much as I do, just as much as you should. I would have thought you’d be pleased to have the ally. Or can’t you see that he’s trying to help?” Zoro says defensively with a venomous glare at Ivankov. Sanji leans a little closer to Zoro and feels bad that Zoro has to keep doing this to people, he feels even angrier about the fact that his father is so bad that this is even necessary.

“It doesn’t matter Zoro, if he doesn’t want the money he doesn’t have to have it. He can think what he likes of me, everyone does.” He says softly into Zoro’s shoulder and then turns back to his food and resumes cooking. He can feel Zoro stiffen with anger next to him. 

“Sanji, that’s not right!” Zoro protests angrily. 

Ivankov pauses and seems to think, or at least the silence that Sanji can hear with his back to him seems to be a thoughtful one. When Ivankov speaks again his tone is less aggressive and more curious.

“If you inherited the institute…” Ivankov begins slowly.

“I’d dismantle it in a day, free everyone and give all the money away. I hate that thing almost as much as I hate my father. Before you even ask, I didn’t want Zoro here any more than he wanted to be here, that was my father too.” Sanji answers flatly.

“Charming.” Zoro snorts by his side, but the smirk lets Sanji know that Zoro is only playing with him. He flips Zoro off anyway just for good measure. 

“Hm, you’d let your slave here go too would you? Or is that a perk you’d be tempted to keep?” Ivankov challenges.

“Sanji’s already offered to let me go free, I had the device to take my collar off in my hand. Despite how much his father would punish him Sanji practically shoved me out the door. I chose to stay, I don’t throw people I care about to the wolves.” Zoro retorts irritably. Luffy seems surprised by this knowledge, he guesses that Zoro didn’t tell him.

“My, my. Luffy wasn’t exaggerating when he spoke of his green haired swordsman friend.” The blue haired man comments in surprise.

“I judge people on what they do, not on talk. But if you’re not prepared to do the same then maybe you don’t deserve his help. Maybe you’re not the man Luffy said that you were.” The swordsman says darkly. 

Sanji stirs his sauce in silence. He’s red faced at Zoro’s words and is glad that no one can see him.

“Hm, I too judge people on what I see rather than what I hear. On Wednesday Revolution is having a fundraising ball, all of our major fundraisers will be there. If I accept this cheque from you it’ll be more than many of them, so it’s only fitting that you should be there.” The man says with a purr in his voice. Sanji turns and frowns at him, he’s not sure if this is an invitation or a threat, there’s every likelihood that it’s both.

“If you survive then we’ll talk again, if not I can always claim I conned the money out of the son of our greatest enemy. See you there candies, heehaw!” The weird man laughs and saunters off, taking Sanji’s cheque with him, though god only knows where the freak is keeping it, his outfit doesn’t exactly leave any room for pockets. 

“You never told me how bizarre that guy is Luffy.” Zoro states in a faintly accusatory way.

“I think he’s funny.” Luffy laughs boyishly and Sanji stares into his sauce feeling out of his depth.

 

The feeling doesn’t go away even when on Wednesday night he’s staring into his wardrobe unseeingly trying to pick out a shirt. He doesn’t even notice Zoro leaning against the door watching him until Zoro actually steps into the room.

“You know…” Zoro hums, placing his hands on Sanji’s hips as he looks over Sanji’s shoulder into the cupboard.

“That you really didn’t have to do this. You didn’t have to write that cheque, but you did. So why are you acting like this just happened to you instead of something you chose?” Zoro presses. Sanji bites back the real answer of ‘it made you happy, so what choice did I have?’ and instead says:

“I just don’t know what my father will say.” He sighs.

This turns out to be the wrong thing to say and he can see the sneer on Zoro’s face in the wardrobe mirror. 

“You’re trying to destroy his company and him, what did you think was going to happen?” Zoro snorts and drops his hands. Sanji instantly misses the warmth.

“I just… it’s all so final. I can’t go back when I’ve done this you know, I’ve got a lot to lose!” He declares angry at Zoro’s derisive behaviour as he spins on his heel to glare at the other man. His glare certainly loses a little force as he realises that Zoro is again dressed like a magazine model and that it’s a little hard to look fearsome shirtless when you’re as skinny and pale as Sanji knows he is. 

“Oh fuck you, if I piss your father off I end up in some sociopath’s torture cave and likely get all of my friends murdered!” Zoro snarls at him.

“At least you have friends! Mine all seem to just be using me for things! I have an adoptive family that can get killed to teach me a lesson and if I piss my father off too much then the only person that actually cares about me ends up in some sociopath’s torture cave so I can live a long guilty, lonely life!” Sanji shouts back with far more raw emotion than he’d intended. 

“Assuming that you even do care!” He adds nastily and turns back to his wardrobe again and scowls at his shirts. Of course he has a lot to lose, he has Zoro.

“And… and that’s assuming that I don’t just get thrown in there myself! After all, apparently my father is a genocidal maniac too as well as a slave-owning corporate slime bag! Which is probably why no one likes me and the only friends that I have are paid to be here or have double motives! So forgive me if it takes me a little time to pick what shirt best suits that occasion!” He adds angrily and pulls one off of a hanger before furiously discarding it with shaking hands. He breathes in and out rapidly and feels a little like his world is spinning so violently that it’s liable to throw him off like a demented children’s merry-go-round. 

Zoro’s hand is warm against his stomach and he’s pulled a half step back into an embrace. Zoro’s lips are on his shoulder, closed and not quite a kiss but not an accidental press of lips either. He can feel Zoro’s padlock cold on his back and it makes him shudder. It’s not an apology but just sympathy. 

Zoro’s lips leave him and Zoro’s free arm reaches out past him and snags a mid blue shirt with black pinstripes on it. 

“This one. You always look good in blue.” Zoro breathes and slides it into his hands. 

Zoro doesn’t leave the room but instead pauses halfway between Sanji and the door. 

“Kuina was always brave, I hated her for that.” He says conversationally to Sanji’s bedside table,

“I demanded to know how she did it, how she didn’t get scared. She told me that being brave wasn’t about being scared of what could happen but accepting what might happen and doing it anyway.” The other man says simply. Sanji wants to kick him for being so hackneyed and cliché, but he also wants to be nasty and point out that she’s dead now so it was hardly advice that worked well for her. He does neither of those things and Zoro leaves the room. 

“Doing it anyway.” He murmurs as he slides the shirt on. He thinks about Zeff, about the Baratie and his family there and knows that they would tell him to do it regardless of the risks, that they could handle themselves. He thinks of Zoro who clearly is telling him to go for it no matter what. He thinks of Franky who is so committed to destroying Sanji’s father regardless of the consequences that he started without him. He thinks about Usopp and Nami’s surprising weapon that resembles some things Usopp has in his room and suspects the same of him too. Everyone else seems to have accepted the possibility of the worst and is instead shooting for the best. Perhaps he needs to let go of his obligations and try to change things. 

He slides his tie around his neck, adjusts it and goes out to find Zoro. 

The camera flashes outside the venue are relentless and there are journalists of various liberal magazines pointing microphones at him. Before Sanji has always run from them or threatened legal action but now he has to stand and answer the questions, it’s easier with Zoro at his back, everything is. 

“Sir Prince, don’t you think it’s hypocritical to own slaves and give money to an anti-slavery charity?” One demands with a ‘of course it is’ voice. 

It’s all or nothing, now or never. Behind his back he clutches at Zoro’s hand and flashes everyone a winning smile as he remembers Zoro’s encouraging words about bravery.

“Not at all. I obviously don’t speak for my father’s company but my personal beliefs and my own money are free to do what I wish. I strongly believe in this cause. However, I absolutely cannot discuss what motions I table in board meetings, how I vote on mate welfare and my position on the direction that my father’s company takes. All of that is confidential of course.” Sanji answers smoothly hoping that the reporters will get the obvious hints to what he isn’t saying and do their own goddamned research. 

“But what about your own slave, sorry, mate?” Another reporter asks sarcastically.

“I’m… I’m lucky to have Zoro. Not in the sense of owning him, but in knowing him.” Sanji answers honestly, looking at the ground. He closes his eyes and remembers to speak as if he has the relationship that he wants with Zoro. As far as these reporters need to be concerned Zoro and he are both in love. 

“I love Zoro, and I know that a lot of people who own mates don’t get that. They’re too busy thinking about the people that they own as property instead of as people, I don’t think of Zoro like that and he doesn’t think about me like that. The only way we make our relationship work is by leaving all that other crap behind.” Sanji answers with more honesty than he’d expected. The reporters are silent for a moment so Sanji continues.

“I think that Revolution’s work is important because if mates were given a chance to leave and instead chose to stay with their master well… that’d show something important. After all, if you love someone they should be free to leave, it’s only when they are that them choosing to stay means something.” He smiles genuinely as he remembers Zoro deciding to stay for him. He glances to the side to see Zoro giving him a kilowatt smile and he can’t help but beam back, to everyone else they must look every bit in love and Sanji at least knows that he is. 

“So, hypocritical? No. Contradictory, perhaps. I just want to make things better is all.” Sanji finishes as he tears his eyes from Zoro and back to the reporters. He turns and walks inside with Zoro, ignoring the way the reporters suddenly explode with questions. Zoro beams at him when they’re inside and pulls Sanji into a kiss against a wall that melts Sanji’s bones, they quickly reassert themselves when he reminds himself that Zoro is just pretending and that like Robin he’s doing things for appearances sake. He’s not sure that he can survive though if he convinces himself that the smile was fake too, and some part of him which he hopes is his sense of intuition rather than deep seated denial, says that it’s real. 

“Come on, you’ve got awards to accept.” Zoro grins and pulls him into the party. Sanji sighs and follows him, at least tonight he’ll be dealing with different sycophantic people than normal. He supposes that he should at least enjoy tonight before the papers hit tomorrow morning and his father shoots him.


	15. Chapter 15

Zoro never thought he’d find anything that he’d like about the institute, after all he was a prisoner in a creepy brothel/finishing school. However, he always had to wake up at a certain time and wasn’t interrupted before then. Since moving to be with Sanji however he’s been unexpectedly or rudely awakened far more often than he’d like. 

He’s innocently snoozing the morning after Revolution’s fundraising ball when Usopp bursts into his room at a million miles an hour and literally pulls him by his arm out from between the covers and onto the floor. He’s about to yell at Usopp for disturbing his rest when he catches his expression; it’s terrified, and not the usual yellow bellied Usopp scared, but flat out terrified. 

“Come on!” He hisses and pulls Zoro out of the room. They sprint across the corridor and burst into Sanji’s room, startling the blonde into messy-haired and bleary eyed wakefulness as well. 

“Wha?” Sanji asks unintelligibly at he blinks owlishly at them. 

“Your father is here, act like you belong together!” Usopp whispers urgently. He gives Zoro a shove in Sanji’s direction and flees the room, shutting the door behind him as quietly as possible. 

There’s a split second of panic as he and Sanji stare at each other, neither quite awake enough to deal with this. Zoro realises just what Usopp is trying to do and leaps into Sanji’s bed next to the blonde. Sanji squeaks and shuffles up.

He and the blonde squirm against each other under the bed covers, trying to get themselves into a believable sleeping position before both shutting their eyes and pretending to be dead to the world. Zoro lies curled into the warm spot on the bed that Sanji was sleeping in mere moments ago. 

Usopp knocks loudly at the door and calls for Sanji in what, to Zoro, sounds like a very over-acted voice. His head is resting on Sanji’s chest with the cook’s arm around his back, their legs are tangled together under the sheets, and it would be perfect and wonderful if it wasn’t for the thundering footsteps of Spandam coming down the hallway towards them. Beneath Zoro’s ear Sanji’s heart is thundering.

“S-sir!” Usopp calls again, knocking on the door. 

“OUT OF THE WAY!” Spandam roars, from the other side of the door, there’s a squeak and a thud that reverberates through the wall – Spandam has shoved Usopp away. Sanji leans up onto his elbows just as the door flies open, revealing a wild eyed and furious Spandam. Zoro stays frozen on the bed, curled up around Sanji and watches Lord Spandam shaking with rage. He feels glad that the cook is between him and the older Prince, Spandam’s wrath is rolling off of him in waves and Zoro knows enough about the man’s tendency to take his temper out on people to want to be out of his reach.

“I ought to KILL you boy!” Spandam screeches. Zoro feels Sanji wince ever so slightly at his side.

“Morning to you too father.” Sanji says flatly as he rubs his eyes.

Spandam snarls and hurls several newspapers at the two of them, they hits Sanji’s pillow and skids towards them, enough so that Zoro doesn’t have to stretch too far to see the covers. On one it is a picture of Sanji standing next to him smiling, the same picture is repeated on almost all of them but the headlines are different. 

“SIR PRINCE CONDEMNS ROYAL INSTITUTE” Screams one headline.

“INSTITUTE INCOMPATIBLE WITH LOVE SAYS SIR PRINCE!” Another proclaims.

“INSTITUTE HEIR FUNDING PROTESTERS!” Another declares. They all continue on in that vein, inflammatory headlines speaking the truth more or less but mostly misquoting Sanji. The actual articles at first glance seem to be more or less fair and a few even look questioning about the institute being right at all, which pleases Zoro. He keeps his face neutral though and stays by Sanji’s side. He touches his hand reassuringly to Sanji’s side and feels the blonde relax a little next to him.

They had both known that this was going to happen, it was what Sanji’s big show to the press had been all about after all. But it’s another thing to see it completely in motion and to see Spandam so furious. 

“Ah.” Sanji comments.

“Ah? AH?! That’s all you’ve got to say for yourself boy?! You’re funding the enemy, dragging our name through the mud and all you have to say for yourself is ‘ah’?!” Spandam screams, storming towards them. Zoro isn’t sure if Spandam is going to try to hit Sanji again, or what he’d do if he did. He briefly contemplates running into his own room again, fetching his swords and just straight up murdering the man. But, Sanji would go to jail for that, if not for murder then for manslaughter. As Sanji’s property Sanji is responsible for him and his actions. Zoro would no doubt end up in Blackbeard’s hands and Sanji wouldn’t inherit the institute, overall a bad move. Tempting though it is to imagine Spandam’s agonising death at his hands.

“The Revolution hates the institute and us, mostly you.” Sanji says, picking up a newspaper and looking at it casually as if he’s planned all of this. Perhaps the blonde had been thinking about this encounter all night, surely he must have known that it was coming? After all yesterday he was incredibly stressed about what his father would say when he found out.

“So I thought that it might do us good to get them on side, I spoke to Nezumi the other day about possibly making some welfare changes for the mates. You want positive press don’t you?” Sanji says calmly and reasonably. 

“Besides, you were the one who wanted me to start taking a more active role in the institute, that’s what I’m doing.” The blonde adds innocently. 

Spandam is visibly shaking with rage but Sanji hasn’t really said much that he can disagree with. The masked man glowers at Sanji and takes a breath through gritted teeth. 

“Don’t you ever do anything like this again without my approval. I will be having words with you later. The whole family is going to the island to get away from the press, pack your bags, my servants will be here in one hour to take you and your whore to the airport.” Spandam declares and stomps out of the room. 

“Hey, he’s not-” Sanji calls after him but Zoro squeezes Sanji’s arm and shakes his head. He’s angry at the insult, but it’s hardly worth getting Sanji in a fight for. 

Sanji grumbles and falls back onto the bed, crumpling several of the newspapers underneath him. Zoro pulls a newspaper out from under them and curls up at Sanji’s side to read it. On closer inspection it seems fair, he’s pleased with the idea of the media talking about the idea of mates as a concept and perhaps starting to debate if they’re a good idea. 

When he finishes the first article he glances up at Sanji to offer the paper to him, he notices that the blonde is wearing a strange expression on his face. Zoro realises with a start just how intimate this seems, wrapped up in the same bed together reading the newspaper. It made sense when Usopp was getting them to pretend for Spandam but they’re still here. Feeling awkward Zoro sits up with an embarrassed cough. 

“Hey, sorry about just throwing myself at you just now but Usopp was smart enough to realise that seeing us sleeping in separate beds would probably piss your father off.” He smiles. Honestly he doesn’t mind at all, he’d be happy to crawl into bed with Sanji any day of the week, especially as the slender yet muscular cook apparently sleeps shirtless.

“Well, convincing my father is always a good thing I suppose.” Sanji shrugs and the cook’s head tilts back at he glares at the ceiling, Zoro fights down the temptation to pin him to the bed and lick the man’s adam’s apple. 

“I’m so sorry about what he said.” Sanji apologises as he tilts his head to look at Zoro who manages to shake the aroused expression from his face just in time.

“Didn’t I tell you not to apologise for him, you’ve not got anything to do with him.” Zoro frowns, and really Sanji doesn’t, he just has the misfortune to be related to him. 

“So, where are we going? What island was that slime ball talking about?” He asks curiously, moving on from telling Sanji off. 

“It’s an island called Mirage, it’s a tropical island. It’s owned by my family, they sometimes let other people use the island and the resort that they’ve built there but mostly it’s just us. It’s pretty remote and since everyone there is employed by my family it’s somewhere that my father likes to retreat to if he ever has to avoid the press or anyone else. I guess he wants me out of the press spotlight for a while until what I said dies down.” Sanji explains. The blonde gets up and heads to his wardrobe lazily and starts pulling out clothes to take with him. 

“I guess I’ll go pack then.” Zoro sighs and heads off to his room. 

 

Less than three hours later he’s standing on the runway on the island of Mirage, sand is blowing across the tarmac and over his exposed toes. He’s wearing sandals and shorts with a t-shirt, all very muted in comparison to Sanji’s frankly hideous giant purple flowered Hawaiian shirt which is so offensive to look at that Zoro is tempted to burn it for the sake of everyone around with eyes.

Scenery wise the island is a picture perfect paradise with lush palm trees and beautiful greenery, there are flowers and hummingbirds abound. The sand is a snowy white which makes the ocean gently lapping against it look even more impossibly sapphire blue. The air is warm and pleasant without being too dry or too hot. If it was just him and Sanji it would indeed be perfect. 

Unfortunately it’s not. 

Sanji’s father storms past them, as angry as he had been that morning and deliberately slams into Zoro’s shoulder as he walks by, knocking him into Sanji’s shoulder.

“Don’t just stand there, bring your pet up to the mansion. Stupid boy.” Spandam growls over his shoulder at Sanji. Zoro feels his eye twitching in tense irritation and his mind calls back to his swords, he wishes that they were in his hands right now to cut Spandam open like a fish. Instead they’re in Nami’s possession for safekeeping, neither of them trust Spandam enough to refrain from sending lackeys into Sanji’s home while they’re away to steal personal things and snoop. 

He’s not sure if he initiates it or if Sanji does but the cook’s slender talented fingers find their way into Zoro’s hand and twine comfortingly around his own until they’re holding hands. The cook tugs him towards the sloping sandy hillside and with a weary sigh Zoro falls into step with him. 

Sanji’s room… their room… is big of course and familiar of his room at home. The large blue bed faces the glass doors and off to the side is a door that probably leads to a bathroom. Everything is island themed with blue walls, wicker furniture and bare wooden floorboards. Zoro can see that this room has been Sanji’s for several visits beforehand, the room has his feel to it which can be seen in everything from the familiarly signed paintings by Usopp on the walls to the cookbooks stacked on top of the chest of drawers. 

The room is easily the size of Sanji’s room back home, of course it would be with how rich Sanji’s family is, they own the whole goddamn island so space is hardly an issue. Sanji seems to like glass and natural light as, just as with his room at home, one wall is entirely glass in the form of a huge sliding door. It leads out to a beechwood deck that overlooks the beach and the ocean, frankly it’s beautiful. 

Sanji begins to unpack his clothes and things into the room, Zoro knows that he should do the same but he wasn’t granted a seat on the plane, what with not being a person and all. He spent his time on the flight sat on the floor at Sanji’s feet with his head on the blonde’s knee. It’s given him an awful crick in his neck and an ache low down on his back. He crumples onto the bed with a low groan and moans in happiness at the comfort. 

“Poor marimo.” Sanji sighs sympathetically. He trails a hand up Zoro’s back, gently pressing on every sore muscle as he goes. He whines in pleasure at the sensation and his mind instantly snaps back to the last time this happened, when Sanji pulled him apart with his touch as Zoro’s system sang with bliss. Sanji seems to remember the same thing at the same time and snatches his hand back with an embarrassed cough. 

“So- um, if we just unpack then we’ll probably be done in time for dinner and you can meet the rest of my awful family.” Sanji says with forced brightness. Zoro tilts his head to see that Sanji is looking desperately at anything in the room but him. 

“They’re all that bad then?” Zoro questions him, shrugging the memory off and deciding to just ignore the awkwardness as he rolls onto his back on the bed and stretches deeply. 

Sanji seems to consider this for a moment as he threads a shirt onto a coat hanger, Zoro can practically see him flipping through the mental rolodex of his family. 

“My cousins aren’t too bad. One of them is a good kid but the girls are pretty selfish and ambitious, but… I think they’ve got good hearts in them.” Sanji remarks as he folds shirts and puts them into his drawer. 

“Talking about us again Sanji?” A voice challenges from the door. Zoro snaps bolt upright on the bed, his hand instinctually reaching to his hip for his swords that aren’t there. In the door is a glasses wearing kid, perhaps in his early teens, he flinches away from Zoro’s expression which makes Sanji laugh loudly. Puzzled Zoro looks up at Sanji who seems completely unfazed by this kid’s sudden appearance at his room.

“Zoro, drop the death glare. This is my cousin Coby, Coby, this is Zoro.” Sanji laughs introducing them both. 

Zoro narrows his eyes and looks at the kid, he’s clearly related to Spandam, the pink hair and slight build is enough to tell him that. That fact alone instantly drops the stranger down in Zoro’s estimation but… well… Sanji said that this kid is one of the good ones. He has an innocent looking face and, honestly, he looks a little scared of him. 

“H-hi.” Coby stammers, practically trembling under Zoro’s gaze. Zoro feels himself weaken a little inside, the semi pathetic nature of the kid reminds him of Chopper somehow.

“Hi.” He grunts in response. 

“Are you Fullbody’s kid? I thought he killed his mate after six months.” Zoro frowns, surely Fullbody couldn’t have had time to have a kid, especially not this age. Fullbody was a good deal younger than Spandam too so it seemed unlikely for this kid to be his son.

“Fullbody? No, he’s my uncle.” Coby answers, shaking his head.

“My father is one of three siblings. My father is the eldest, his sister Carmen is in the middle and Fullbody is the youngest. Coby and his sisters are my Aunt Carmen’s kids.” Sanji explains from the dresser as he shuts the draw.

Zoro looks back at Coby in time to catch the kid staring at him, the boy leaps back in fright when Zoro locks eyes with him.

“What?” Zoro challenges.

“Nothing!” Coby squeaks, shaking his head timidly.

“I just… I was trying to work out what was so special about you. Sanji’s got himself in a lot of trouble for talking about you to the press. We had to come here too because there were paparazzi surrounding the mansion gates trying to get interviews from any of us about the institute.” Coby adds meekly, his eyes straying up to look at Zoro curiously again.

His cousin’s words prompt a sigh from Sanji and the blonde morosely sits at Zoro’s side. He shoots his cousin a meaningful look and the pink haired boy nods and shuts the door, leaving the three of them in the privacy of Sanji’s room.

“It’s that bad huh? I figured something major must have happened with the press for my father to flip out quite that badly. I saw the newspapers but they don’t tell the story of interviews that they were trying to get from you guys and didn’t. He was furious the whole flight over here.” Sanji murmurs. 

“Did you really say what the papers said that you said? About the institute needing to change and that mates should be set free?” Coby presses, his eyes wide with excitement. Zoro isn’t sure he likes how excited the kid looks, it’s less the enthusiastic optimism that he might see on Luffy’s face and more the expression of someone watching a particularly impressive train wreck. 

“Yeah, and I meant it too.” Sanji answers, Coby whistles in awe at the blonde’s actions. 

“You’re brave. Crazy, but brave.” The kid remarks with a shake of his head. 

“I… I wouldn’t be alone with any of the grown-ups right now if I was either of you, especially you.” Coby says secretively to Zoro. Zoro wonders just what it is that Coby’s heard to make him say that. It’s okay though, he doesn’t have any intention of getting separated from Sanji if he can help it. 

“Coby? Coby where are you?” A male voice calls down the hallway. The boy perks up at the sound of the voice and Coby pulls the door open, revealing a tall well built man. Despite the warm weather he’s wearing a heavy coat, even that doesn’t disguise the big heavy looking collar at his throat and the black padlock hanging from it. Zoro’s eyes widen, this man is a mate like him. 

“Coby, your mother is looking for you, you’d better go find her and don’t let her know you were here.” The man says gently. Coby gasps and sprints past the large man back out into the corridor, calling a hasty goodbye over his shoulder as he does so. 

“Sir.” The man nods respectfully at Sanji and turns to leave as well.

“Dalton, wait.” Sanji calls, standing up suddenly. The tall man, Dalton by the sounds of it, pauses and turns back obediently to face Sanji. 

“Sir.” He says with the practiced blank face of a well trained mate. Zoro winces, he knows that’s just how he looks when he’s feeling that tense around someone as powerful as Sanji. And Sanji is powerful, Zoro forgets it sometimes, but Sanji is rich, connected and even has a knighthood. He could get away with murder. 

“Dalton, you don’t need to call me Sir, I’ve told you that before.” Sanji sighs with a gentle smile. Dalton’s face remains impassive, clearly he doesn’t believe Sanji but he is going to comply anyway.

“My apologies, how can I help you Sanji?” He asks formally instead, he’s not saying ‘Sir’ but he might as well be. 

Zoro’s eyes hover on the padlock at the man’s throat. His neck is so thick and well muscled, just like the rest of the man, he’s clearly physically powerful. It’s so stupid that someone so physically capable can be reduced to the whim of someone else because of threats and that stupid electric shock collar. In fact, that one looks like an older model of collar, the one that both had the shock device but also could explode at the push of a button. It was an escape failsafe, unfortunately it failed too often and many mates were decapitated and generally blown to pieces regardless of whether or not they tried to escape. They were removed after a master was injured in an accidental detonation that killed the mate in question. Zoro can’t help but wonder if this collar still has that detonation device in or whether it was fixed.

“I thought that you might like to meet Zoro. Zoro this is Dalton, my Aunt Carmen’s mate and Coby’s father.” Sanji smiles, gesturing to Zoro who has unconsciously got to his feet. 

Dalton’s dark brown eyes meet his and Zoro sees a reflection of his own life. A life lived within the confines of the institute, a life lived oppressed by the tyranny of others and the threat of violence. He sees the life that he could have had if he’d been far less lucky than he was in ending up with Sanji. Dalton has children and Zoro would bet that Sanji’s Aunt Carmen has no more charitable an attitude to mates consent and wellbeing than her brother Fullbody did to his. 

His fingers touch the cold metal ring on his own collar, a mark of respect, a salute to those who have been chosen and an acknowledgement of the horror that is certain. Regardless of who you were in the institute, regardless of whether you liked another mate in training or whether you fought with them bitterly, when they were chosen you saluted. Because no matter what, they were still the same as you were, every mate was a slave.

Dalton’s hand touches the ring of his own collar ever so briefly as his eyes meet Zoro’s and a current of understanding and solidarity passes between them, as silent and instantaneous as electricity. 

Dalton drops his hand and his gaze flicks back to Sanji, his face falling back into a polite neutral. 

“Was there anything else Sir? My mistress will be angry if I’m late to get back to her.” Dalton asks in a polite voice.

“I said you didn’t have to- never mind. Don’t let me hold you up.” The blonde sighs with a frown. Dalton bows and disappears from sight. 

“What was that all about?” Sanji asks with a frown, gesturing to Zoro’s hand which still lingers on the ring to his collar. He drops his hand and frowns at the thought of Dalton and the chilling thought that it could have easily been him in that kind of situation, as bad as putting up with his lack of true freedom was and having to deal with Spandam at least he didn’t belong to someone like that.

“It’s a sign of respect, something from the institute. Whenever someone was taken we all did it.” He answers sadly. 

“God, it sounds like something you’d do if someone died.” Sanji snorts. Zoro glares at the blonde, he’s sure that Sanji understands intellectually how awful it must be to be a mate but he still doesn’t really get the idea. He hasn’t lived it, he doesn’t understand the way it feels to be less than a person, to be sold like meat and facing abuse, rape and death. 

“We should be so lucky.” He snaps back angrily. Sanji flinches back, clearly realising the impact of his words.

“I didn’t mean-” the cook apologises quickly. 

“Drop it.” Zoro growls, stalking past Sanji and grabbing his own bag to unpack. 

He can’t help but be angry, not so much at Sanji’s thoughtless comment but at this whole situation. At seeing yet another mate clearly in a dark place, at being kept one this island against his will, at being forced to stay on the floor on the plane, at his aching muscles, at Sanji’s fucking father, at the stupid extravagant wealth of the people here made off of his suffering. It all just makes him so angry. He wonders if he could sneak out in a small hours of the morning, slip into the kitchen, grab a knife and end Spandam’s horrible life. He wonders whether he will regret not taking the opportunity, but equally he has a lot to lose. He glances at Sanji over his shoulder, Sanji is only here because he’s done what Zoro wanted by taking a stand, he can hardly act so selfishly after that, even if Sanji does talk without thinking.

“Dinner is probably ready any minute now, I’ll show you where everything is if you like.” The cook says quietly. 

“Sure.” He agrees and follows the slightly more placated blonde out of the room. When Sanji leads him to a large ornate dining room though Zoro hesitates at the doors, he remembers from his training that there were plenty of people that didn’t think it appropriate or seemly to eat around low life forms like mates. When he considers just how strict Spandam was with him by making him sit on the floor of the plane he’d bet that the other man doesn’t want him eating with them. The oblivious blonde doesn’t seem to realise this though and saunters right into the room, only hesitating and returning when he realises that Zoro isn’t following him.

“I’m not sure I’m allowed in there, have you ever seen Dalton eat with you all in there?” Zoro questions before Sanji can even ask. The blonde looks surprised at the question but Zoro watches the other man’s curly brow furrow in thought before the blonde’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. 

“I never even thought-” Sanji murmurs. Zoro sighs and shakes his head, Sanji has probably known Dalton since he was a child and simply accepted that the other man just never ate with them all when they were together. The guilt flashes across the other man’s face as clear as day, he feels terrible for not noticing, for taking his position for granted again, but it’s not his fault it’s just human nature.

“Don’t worry about it, kitchen this way?” he smiles, pointing off to his left. 

“That way.” Sanji corrects, pointing him the other way with a small smirk. 

If they were at home Zoro would flip Sanji off for having another dig at his poor sense of direction but not here, he’s not safe here. Instead he just settles for rolling his eyes and follows his master’s directions like a good mate. 

Before long he finds the kitchen and Dalton sitting in the small service room off to the side with a bowl of soup. It’s quieter in there away from the hubbub of noise from the kitchen staff. Zoro doesn’t really want to eat in there with them anyway, they all look at him like something the cat dragged in, clearly they too think that he’s just a whore. Zoro grabs his own bowl from the kitchen and joins him. 

He stirs his soup to cool it and stays silent. One part of him wants to ask Dalton if it’s really as bad as he always imagined it to be, whether you get used to it or not. For a moment he wonders if it’s as bad with a woman forcing you as he imagines it to be with a man, he smacks that thought aside though, it makes no difference. It was done with just as little consent, just as little dignity and regard for the human soul, it doesn’t matter. Dalton is probably wondering just the same about him, probably wondering if Zoro has broken yet, wondering what bruises from Sanji that Zoro could be concealing under his clothes.

“Sanji… Sanji isn’t like people think he is.” Zoro says quietly, so that only Dalton can hear and none of the staff in the next room are any wiser. He glances up to see Dalton’s dark eyes watching him with interest.

“People think that…. That he must be like all masters. He’s not…. He’s not like that, he’s not laid a finger on me. He thinks that the whole thing is wrong.” Zoro explains quickly and quietly. He looks up at Dalton who’s face is unreadable, will he think that Zoro is bragging or rubbing his good fortune in.

“Never say that again boy, not to anyone.” Dalton says quietly as he puts his spoon down and stares at Zoro with big black eyes.

“But-” Zoro frowns not understanding.

“But nothing!” Dalton hisses angrily, snagging the padlock at Zoro’s throat and yanking Zoro closer. Zoro’s skin crawls at anyone touching his collar and much less his padlock, it raises a sick feeling in his throat. He hates it and no one does it to him, not until this.

“You aren’t a person, you aren’t free, you’re property.” Dalton growls in his face.

“You belong to Sir Prince and I belong to Lady Prince. I’ve been hers for twenty five years, for all you know I’ve broken, for all you know I don’t remember what freedom was even like, for all you know I’m going to run out of here and tell her every word that you just told me.” Dalton snarls at him, Zoro feels all of the blood drain from his face at the idea.

The older man shoves Zoro back and releases his padlock, causing Zoro to stumble back into his chair again. 

“You don’t have the luxury of being stupid boy, not if you want to live. Rose was stupid, she died. Shakky was stupid, she died too. Do you see the pattern here?” Dalton sighs, looking at the empty places at the table. Zoro’s eyes flick over to them and he remembers Fullbody’s cruel words about his mate Rose.

“Who’s Shakky?” Zoro questions weakly as he rubs his throat. 

The taller man looks at him strangely with a curious tilt of his head. 

“Your master’s mother.” He answers. 

“Sanji never told me her name.” Zoro elaborates. Shakky huh? Odd name. 

“It’s not Sanji while you’re here boy, people are out to get you here, don’t give them anything. Remember everything you were ever taught and live it like you’ll die otherwise, because you probably will. It’s master from now on, got it?” Dalton reprimands him and picks up his spoon again, starting to eat. 

Zoro winces, as much as he hates to admit it Dalton does have a point, he simply assumes that all mates are on his side but that’s not true. Some break, some rat on others just to keep themselves safe. It happened at the institute too. He supposes that Dalton is partly on his side, or else he wouldn’t have told him that but still, it’s a wound to his pride to be brought up so harshly. 

Zoro sits in silence and eats his soup, it’s pretty good but even in the short time that he’s been with Sanji his palate has been spoilt and this seems poor in comparison. He swallows thoughtfully and glances up at Dalton and searches for a less dangerous topic of conversation.

“Coby seems nice.” Zoro comments quietly. 

This brings a genuine but small smile to Dalton’s lips and a look of genuine love into his eyes. Dalton genuinely loves his kids, they must have been conceived out of something horrible but… Dalton loves them all the same. 

“He’s a good boy, my daughters are smart and honourable too. Good kids.” Dalton smiles gently. Zoro wonders morbidly whether loving people who came from something horrible being done to you rips you up inside. He smartly decides not to ask and continues eating. 

The silence that settles over the small side room that they’re in is far from comfortable but it’s not hostile at least and before too long Dalton gets up and leaves him. The older man hesitates at the door for a moment.

“Shakky was here before me, she was smart but made a stupid decision, her death was an accident but if it hadn’t been she would have been killed anyway for her actions. Rose was stupid and got herself killed because she didn’t serve properly and cried too much. I don’t want to see anyone else die. Don’t do anything stupid, give up this dream of freedom. Let Sanji go back go being kind and blind, it will be better for both of you.” Dalton advises him gently from the doorway.

Zoro considers this for a second, Dalton is right, it would be easier on him and Sanji to back down, to stay quiet. It would be easier to look the other way, to allow everything to continue as it always has, to pretend it wasn’t their problem.

“It would be better for us, but what about every other mate? What about everyone the institute has hurt? Everyone they’re going to continue to hurt? Don’t they deserve a life too? I won’t step down, neither will Sanji.” Zoro answers challengingly. Dalton’s eyes are sad as he looks at him.

“There are old men and bold men Zoro, but there are no old, bold men. Do you want to live or do you want to die?” the other man tries again to persuade him. 

“I would rather live, it’s better to live than to just survive. Even if it means that I die at least I lived.” He argues back. Dalton smiles at him sadly. 

“Go back to your room when you’re done and wait for your master.” Dalton says finally with a shake of his head as he leaves.

Zoro finishes his own meal and takes Dalton’s advice in his destination at least. He gets into the room and it takes him a moment or two before he senses that he’s not alone. Suspiciously he looks around but sees no one. Some instinct makes him look up and he jolts out of his skin when he sees a woman sitting on the chandelier on the ceiling! How on earth the thing is supporting her weight he has no idea.

The woman is slender and blonde with a lemon yellow dress on and a yellow hat, her dress is patterned with orange slices and at her ears are orange slices too. A memory flashes in his mind, of being shocked by his collar when looking for Nami, a flash of an orange patterned dress.

“You were…” He frowns up at her.

“Miss Valentine. I belong to Baroque works, lead by Miss All Sunday. You know her as Nico Robin though. We are watching you, but we’re not the only ones. Lord Prince has his own spies, CP9, who intend to stop you in your mission and destroy you. Watch your back.” She announces, dropping lightly to the floor. She strides past him casual as can be to the bay doors. 

“Wait- you can’t just leave. What are they planning? What can I do?” Zoro demands as he follows her. 

She slides the door open and steps outside, she fiddles with the clasp on her lime green umbrella as she opens it.

“I think that’s your problem. I’m only here to tell you that.” She says haughtily. With one smooth movement she opens her umbrella and leaps twenty feet into the air before then drifting on the breeze with her umbrella like some demented Mary Poppins. 

Zoro stares up at her disappearing silhouette in bafflement.

“What the actual fuck?” He mutters to himself, retreating back into his and Sanji’s room, shutting the door after him. Robin needs to get better staff, the ones she had all seem to be recruited from the loony bin. 

He throws himself onto the bed with a sigh and shimmies so that his head is resting on a pillow. He rolls onto his side and faces a bedside table. Resting on that bedside table is a photograph in a bamboo frame, in the picture is a small bright eyed blonde boy, clearly Sanji as a child, and a woman with her arm around him. Zoro grabs the picture and inspects it closer. The woman is tall, slender and pale, much like Sanji is. Her eyes have the same familiar shape to them as Sanji’s but they’re dark brown, and instead of the blonde hair that Zoro had expected her to have her hair is jet black. She’s holding a cigarette between her long thin fingers, a gesture that reminds him of Sanji, her mouth is also quirked with that clever smile he’s seen on the blonde’s face a hundred times. He frowns deeply, this must be Shakky, the collar around her throat is an obvious clue as well as her clear relation to Sanji. 

But… he’d expected her to look like Sanji, she was his mother after all. But really he’d expected her to look like a female version of Sanji, especially as the blonde looked nothing like his father. Perhaps he had the other man’s build, but Shakky was slender too. His mind flashes back to Fullbody and his pink hair and then to Coby with his own rose hued hair, they both had that Prince family look. But Sanji… Sanji didn’t and he didn’t look like a carbon copy of his mother either, though he had some of her features. Zoro shrugs and puts the picture down, poor Sanji, it seems like he doesn’t fit in anywhere.


	16. Chapter 16

Zoro has a theory that the universe simply will not allow him to be happy, so he’s not entirely surprised when he’s sprawled happily on the beach enjoying the sun, sand and the sound of the sea that something has to come and ruin his mood.

Or two things to be precise. 

Girls.

“Well, don’t you just look like Christmas morning, laid out all tempting like that?” One says with a smile. 

“I think he’s cute.” The other remarks with a giggle. 

Zoro tries not to scowl too much, the girls are probably Dalton’s daughters and therefore Sanji’s cousins, he really should try to be nice.

“Uh, thanks?” He ventures uncertainly. Not that he’s actually thankful for being called cute, in actual fact the term makes him bristle slightly. Chopper is cute, puppies are cute, perhaps even Nami was cute when she wasn’t trying to defraud you, but he was not cute. 

“Oi, Perona, Bonney what are you doing all the way down ther- oh, Zoro.” Sanji’s voice says suddenly from further up the beach. This makes Zoro sit bolt upright and look for the cook. 

He’d waited in the room last night for hours for Sanji to come back, but no matter how late it’d got the blonde didn’t come back. Eventually Zoro had just given up and crawled into the big king sized bed to sleep. He has a vague memory of Sanji sliding into the bed next to him in the small hours of the morning, a small sense memory of wrapping his hand around the blonde’s middle and the feel of his hair on his face. But by the time he’d woken up in the morning Sanji was long gone, with only the rumpled sheets and a few blonde hairs on the pillow as a clue that he’d ever been there at all. Then this morning despite looking as much as he could he’d not been able to find Sanji, not without dangerously bursting in on his family anyway. 

It had felt like Sanji had been avoiding him, but here the blonde is now, walking down the beach. But he’s halted as soon as he’s seen Zoro, the swordsman’s suspicions about Sanji trying to keep away from him notch up. 

One of the girls however notices the platter laden high with food in Sanji’s right hand and, with an excited yelp, launches herself at him. A few bits of food go flying as she tackles the plate off of him, a few chicken legs and rolls of bread, but Sanji manages to catch them before they hit the sand. The girl with the long-ish pink hair drops back onto the sand and starts stuffing food into her mouth at a speed and voracity that he’s not seen outside of Luffy and Ace. The other pink haired girl winces at the display, making Sanji laugh as he sits down opposite Zoro so they form a sort of square on the sand. 

Zoro opens his mouth, he wants to ask Sanji what’s wrong with him, he wants to know where the blonde’s been, he wants to know if everything is okay. He can’t say any of that though, not with these girls around, Dalton had a point, he doesn’t know what side anyone is on except for Sanji. 

“Zoro, these are my cousins, this is Perona.” Sanji starts, gesturing to the girl to his left, the one who called him cute. She’s got extremely long, curled pink hair and she’s dressed surprisingly pink and gothic for somewhere so hot and her feet seem to point inwards. Over all she’s a very odd looking girl, she’s even got a little crown on her head!

“And this one stuffing her face is her older sister Bonney.” Sanji continues, pointing to the other girl with mid length hair and a piercing under her eye. She’s dressed a little more normally except for the oddly patterned hold up tights on her thighs. The girl pauses in her food-scaring enough to nod at Zoro. 

“I’d be eating even more if it was your food blondie, it was a sad day when uncle Spandam banned you from cooking on the island!” Bonney exclaims indignantly and stuffs a chicken leg in her mouth. 

“You’d probably die from over eating if I still cooked here.” Sanji retorts with a grin.

“Fuck you, I have a healthy appetite!” She snaps, smacking Sanji on the arm. That makes the blonde laugh. The whole thing surprises Zoro really, around women he’s seen Sanji be nothing more than a fawning noodly wreck, but around his cousins he seems to be… normal. Sanji doesn’t seem to care that Bonney and Perona are women, it’s like it’s not even registered. There’s not a fluttering heart or gentlemanly gesture in sight. 

“Ah, Sanji, I’m so jealous. He’s so cute!” Perona exclaims, leaning forward and pinching Zoro’s cheek. That Zoro can’t help but scowl at, causing the pink haired Perona to recoil in shock. She suddenly glares back at him though and whaps him on top of the head like a misbehaving pet!

“Oi! Perona, leave Zoro alone, he’s not a dog.” Sanji says scolding her as he catches her wrist. 

“Hahah! You made him mad!” Bonney laughs at Zoro’s no doubt irked expression. He wouldn’t even treat a dog like that.

“It’s not fair, I want a mate like him, he’s so cute and I could dress him up and-” Perona babbles excitedly, eyeing Zoro in a way that he definitely doesn’t like. His skin crawls as he does his best to subtly edge away from her. She wants to dress him up? What the hell?

“Stop it, you’re so creepy.” Sanji groans, rolling his eyes at her. 

“I’m not creepy! When I have my own mate I’ll do whatever I want with him!” Perona declares. 

“Hey, they’re still people, Perona. You can’t just treat mates like your toys.” Bonney sighs, rubbing her mouth on her arm as she tosses the now empty platter of food off to the side. 

“Mother says-” Perona begins with a pout.

“Yeah, and you know how well mother treats dad, you really don’t want to be taking advice from her.” Bonney argues and follows up her wise statement with a belch. 

“Exactly, so leave poor Zoro alone.” Sanji agrees and throws Zoro one of the chicken legs that he’d caught when Bonney snatched the tray of food from him. Zoro catches it easily but doesn’t fail to notice the way Bonney’s eyes track it as it sails through the air, she really does remind him of Luffy. 

“And you need to learn to keep your big mouth shut, it doesn’t matter if you’re right or not, you’ve got to watch your mouth. Mother, Spandam and Fullbody are seriously pissed at you right now Sanji, if you keep this up they’re going to stop this little campaign of yours and you with it.” Bonney warns, pointing a finger in Sanji’s face. 

“Someone needs to do something!” Sanji argues back with a glare that fills Zoro’s heart with warmth.

“Yeah, after those three bastards are dead! Then you change things, but not right now!” Bonney snaps.

“Yeah, Sanji. Don’t think we don’t know why you’re doing this, it’s just because you’ve fallen for this cutie here.” Perona coos, pinching Zoro’s cheek again.

“Oi!” Zoro snaps back this time, making Perona giggle at him. 

“Listen, I get it, I do. You just need to know who to fight and when, if you fight them now you’ll lose everything.” Bonney sighs, resting her chin on her hand. 

“It’s just cause you’re in looooove.” Perona teases in a sing-song voice, making Sanji flush an even deeper shade of scarlet.

“Come on you, let’s leave these two alone.” Bonney declares, grabbing her younger sister and tugging her away. It doesn’t take the girls any time at all to disappear into the distance leaving him and Sanji sitting alone on the sand somewhat awkwardly opposite each other. 

The blonde is red cheeked after Perona’s teasing, so much so that it seems like he can’t even look at Zoro. Zoro finds himself a little offended, is the idea really that embarrassing?

“Are you avoiding me?” he demands with a frown. 

“No, why would you say that?” Sanji answers, looking away and scratching his head awkwardly. That was a yes then.

“Okay, why are you avoiding me? You took ages coming back last night and you were up before I was even awake, what gives?” Zoro presses, Sanji is still avoiding his gaze though. 

“I just don’t stay in bed for as long as you do, that’s all.” The cook mutters. Zoro frowns, that’s not true, he’s been up in the morning before the cook and gone to bed after him as well before, although they hadn’t been sharing a bed then.

…wait.

“Is this about sharing a bed with me?” He questions, raising an eyebrow. The immediate flush that runs over the blonde’s cheeks tells Zoro all that he needs to know.

“Fine, if it embarrasses you so much I’ll sleep on the floor.” He huffs, feeling insulted. He gets up to stalk away when Sanji grabs his wrist.

“You don’t have to sleep on the floor Zoro, I’m not going to make you do that!” Sanji insists earnestly. 

“Tsh, you sleep on the floor then cook, you’re the one with the problem.” He retorts, that makes the familiar surly glare fall back onto the cook’s features. Just seeing it makes Zoro grin, he certainly prefers that look to the embarrassed uncertain look the other man was wearing earlier. 

“I’m not doing that you bastard!” Sanji snaps and thumps him in the leg with his elbow. 

“Dumbass.” Zoro grins and spreads himself out on the sand next to Sanji again. He stretches and relaxes, enjoying the feel of the sun on his muscles. Before too long the cook yawns and lies down next to him, though carefully not touching him. 

Zoro glances down at the blonde, his pale skin bright in the sunlight. He’s made such an effort to not be touching him at all, he never had a problem with it in the past but suddenly it’s become an issue. Whenever he touches the cook the blonde flushes red with embarrassment or something. 

He inches closer towards Sanji on the warm sand, being closer now he can see that the cook has dark shadows under his eyes, he is tired after all. He supposes that sharing a bed with him really does bother the other man. Perhaps he suspects that when Zoro kisses him in public he couldn’t care less about their audience, in fact he wishes that they were alone, perhaps that makes Sanji uncomfortable. 

That thought on its own upsets Zoro more than a little, he really likes Sanji, really really likes him and in all honesty he’d been looking forward to being in bed with the man. The idea of just being so close to him and being able to feel him next to him had seemed like the only high point of this whole trip. So, being the mature emotionally stable adult that he is he inches closer to Sanji until they’re almost touching. 

Sanji opens a suspicious eye and looks at him but Zoro quickly pretends to just have been stretching. As soon as the blonde’s suspicion drops Zoro does it again, getting closer and closer just to mess with the cook. Before to long they’re bickering and shoving each other on the sand. It’s a fight that escalates until Zoro grabs Sanji and dumps him in the ocean. That prompts a fair amount of splashing, swearing and several hours chasing each other around the beach. 

Zoro’s not sure if he’s ever been happier.

 

The rest of the day continues quite pleasantly over all, everyone eats at different times and when the evening rolls around Sanji’s family decide to have a barbeque on the beach, so Zoro doesn’t have to be completely separated from Sanji at all! 

Sanji’s cousin Perona insists on trying to treat him like a pet whenever she can, though sticking close to Sanji seems to minimise that. She keeps going on about how cute he is though, bitch. 

Despite it all the atmosphere is mostly relaxed, although Zoro can’t shake off Spandam’s glaring black eyes. Whenever he looks around the other man is glaring at Zoro like he personally ruined his life. It creeps him out to be quite frank. 

Fullbody seems to be happily enjoying the party though and has even invited a few of his friends to join them on the island so there are plenty of people around and plenty of drinks flowing. It’s not long before a drunken Fullbody comes over to them and presses a large dark drink into Sanji’s hand. 

“Drink this, you’ve got to try it!” Fullbody insists eagerly to Sanji. 

Sanji raises an eyebrow and sniffs at the dark drink, it’s in a coconut so Zoro can’t see what it really looks like, only that it seems dark. 

“The fuck is this? It smells like vodka and espresso!” Sanji declares with a wrinkled expression. 

“It’s great!” Fullbody declares and throws himself into a chair next to Sanji, sloshing his own drink over his hand. 

Sanji takes an inquisitive sip and coughs in shock. 

“Geez! How strong is this? This is just vodka and espresso isn’t it? No… there’s something else in there, what is it?” Sanji asks curiously and sniffs at the drink again.

“You tell me nephew!” Fullbody says, waggling his eyebrows sneakily. 

Sanji drinks a little more but apparently can’t place it, Zoro sticks to his own sake and relaxes a little as Sanji starts to stroke the hair on the back of Zoro’s head as he talks to his uncle about some sport. Some team that Sanji likes has been doing well or something, he’s not really listening. 

He’s almost starting to drift off into sleep when Sanji’s fingers roam to his earrings. That makes Zoro open his eyes curiously, he glances up at Sanji to see that the blonde’s cheeks have pinked noticeably, probably from the alcohol and the glow from the fire. 

“You want to try some?” Sanji offers, leaning down and offering Zoro some of the dark coffee drink from the coconut. 

“If it’s got you that drunk cook then sure, why not?” Zoro says quietly with a grin.

“I am not drunk!” Sanji squawks in quiet indignation, but his eyes are unfocused and hazy in the dark. Zoro laughs and takes the overly large coconut off of Sanji and sips from it. 

The first overpowering taste is of coffee and alcohol, so much so that it makes him cough causing Sanji to laugh at him. He thinks about the taste a little as it runs down his throat and decides that Sanji is probably right about it being vodka. But… there’s something else in there too. 

What is it though? He can’t quite place it. A warm feeling runs through him as he takes another sip, it seems somehow warmer than the usual burn of alcohol, not unpleasant and vaguely familiar. He hands the drink back to Sanji and wracks his brain, ignoring Fullbody curiously watching him. 

Where does he know that taste from? It doesn’t taste like rum, his brain is lingering around the idea of mulled wine for some reason, even though he knows that isn’t it. Something… cinnamon flavoured? But it didn’t taste of- wait. 

He remembers the warm taste and the smell of hot apples and cinnamon that accompanied a drink that made him feel warm everywhere. It was that stupid red drink at the party before, the one that messed with his hormones and turned him into a desperate begging wreck. 

But… but that didn’t taste like… well no, it wouldn’t taste quite like that would it? Not with all of the alcohol and coffee in it. Were they there to mask the taste? Was Sanji’s drink being spiked? He looks up worriedly at the coconut that Sanji is still drinking from, it’s pretty huge. If he excludes how much coffee and vodka is probably in there there’s got to be at least two martini glasses worth of red drink in there, and this is Sanji’s second coconut full. That means he’s had four by now! 

Sanji looks back down at him with a hungry smile and Zoro feels his blood run cold, he needs to get Sanji out of here now before anyone can make him drink more. He can return the favour that Sanji granted him and tie him down so that he can’t do any damage to anyone. But how to convince Sanji to leave in a way that won’t alarm Fullbody and make him suspect that he knows? 

He kneels up next to Sanji and leans into his ear, resting one hand gently on his knee. He can’t miss the flicker of lust in Sanji’s red hued irises, the glow of the fire had stopped Zoro from realising it but Sanji’s eyes are pretty red now.

“Hey, how about we ditch this lot and go back to your room yeah?” He offers quietly. 

“Mmm, sounds good.” Sanji purrs back, running a hand temptingly through Zoro’s hair and then down along the line of his jaw. Normally he would suppress the shiver of pleasure that an action like that sends through him but now he decides to let it show, both to convince Sanji and his family. 

He stands and pulls Sanji to his feet, the other man is already walking slightly slinkily, his mind must be completely in the gutter so it’s understandable. He doesn’t look at any of Sanji’s family but he’s more than aware that most of them are watching the two of them like hawks, Fullbody and Spandam especially. 

“After you, master.” Zoro says loud enough for the others to hear. Sanji smiles crookedly at him, as if he’s amused as Zoro’s forced deference in front of an audience. 

“Mm, come on.” The blonde agrees, grabbing a fistful of Zoro’s shirt and pulling him along with him. This is far grabbier than Sanji has ever been, normally this would excite him but Sanji isn’t in his right mind.

As they go down the beach in the darkening light, leaving the glow of the fire behind them, Zoro is sure that he can feel someone watching him, someone different from the eyes at the fireside. He’s not sure if one of them have followed them or if it’s someone else. He surreptitiously glances around but can’t see anything in the darkness, he’s wary of looking around more and giving away that he’s aware of someone there. 

He pauses in the darkness and pulls Sanji close to him, he leans into Sanji’s ear and whispers.

“I think someone’s following us, don’t look but…” He trails off as Sanji, who apparently wasn’t listening at all, gropes his ass. Great. He’s in this on his own then. 

“You have a fantastic ass.” Sanji declares with a grin and gropes him again. 

“Good to know.” He mutters distractedly, looking through the curtain of Sanji’s hair to see if he can see anyone. A flicker of movement catches his eye, he swears that he just saw something almost… dog-like but bigger? His eyes must be playing tricks on him. 

“Sanji, come on, we need to get back to our room.” He urges, pulling the cook along with him, Sanji giggles and follows. That creeps Zoro right out. Sanji is strong and tough, he’s smart and resourceful, he does not giggle like a girl!

“Sanji, this is really wrong okay? We just need to fix this. They drugged you, your eyes are red.” He whispers just loud enough for the blonde to hear. There’s no answer from Sanji though and before he can turn to look at the blonde there’s a sharp kick of pain in the back of his head and he’s on the chilled sand in a crumpled heap. All he registers before he blacks out is Sanji’s hot hands on his skin. 

 

Bits of Zoro register in complaints as he wakes up slowly, his head complains first – there’s a sharp pain in the back of his skull that suggests that he’s been knocked about too hard. Secondly his wrists and shoulders both inform that that they hurt like hell and that he’s tied too tight around his wrists. That worrying realisation wakes him up sharply. He drags in a painful breath that tastes like last night’s spit and booze and drags his eyes open. 

He’s in Sanji’s room on the island, that much was expected. Being tied up to the bedpost by what feels like his own belt is not what he expected. His entire body suddenly informs him of two facts at the same time, first that he’s cold – not desperately so but chilled, and second that he’s completely naked, which somewhat explains the first. 

He’s tied up, he’s naked and he’s been hit on the head. This is bad, very very bad. He shifts to look around and then the final and most worrying thing comes to him, his ass hurts. He’s tied up, he’s naked, he’s in bed and his ass hurts. 

Now isn’t really the appropriate time to panic, but that’s what he’s doing anyway. His brain has seen fit to dump a lifetime’s supply of adrenaline into his system and now he’s officially freaking out. He kicks and scrambles up the bed, his nakedness be damned. He flails and pulls at his wrists desperately trying to get free in a sort of claustrophobic terror, he slams his arms down repeatedly, not caring if he breaks the bedposts, the belt or his goddamn wrists as long as he gets loose. 

His panic has stirred the bastard blonde sleeping next to him. Hazy red-tinged blue eyes blink at him and Zoro pushes aside the panic long enough to hate Sanji completely.

“Let me GO!” Let me go right FUCKING NOW!” He screams at the bastard. That seems to startle Sanji awake, the blonde yelps and lunges forward towards him. He’s naked as well and Zoro by instinct tries to skid away from him but his bound wrists stop that. With some clumsy fiddling the belt comes loose and Zoro lands on his bare ass on the floor with a thump. Sanji reaches for him but Zoro dodges out of the way, leaps the end of his side of the bed and throws himself into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He twists, locks it and then with a thick cord of panic running through him he grabs the freestanding bathroom cabinet and shoves that in front of the door. 

He’s hyperventilating now as he backs away from the door as fast as he can until his legs hit the bath and he almost falls in. His hands grip the cold porcelain of the sink as his entire body shakes. He tries to get a grip on this terrifying situation.

“Get it together Zoro.” He breathes to himself. 

Right; first things first. He needs to accept that Sanji obviously has… has… raped him. But how? He remembers… he remembers Sanji drinking, yes, his uncle had spiked his drink with that red drink and he’d been trying to get Sanji back to their room, tie him up and let him sleep it off. Clearly Sanji had thought differently. 

His hand rubs the sore cut and bump on the back of his head, the blonde must have kicked him out cold, bastard. Sanji probably dragged him back here half conscious and tied him up in case he woke up. 

He turns to face the mirror and winces when he sees his reflection, there’s a deep purple bite mark on his shoulder and his chest is splattered with white goo that he is in no doubt about what it is. He shudders and feels sick with himself. He knows that it isn’t his fault that Sanji did this to him but he’s sick with himself for trusting Sanji. He’d thought that the cook was his friend; he’d thought that he could trust Sanji. Hell, he had trusted Sanji; he’d stayed with him by choice because he’d thought that he was so good. How could he be so stupid? Sanji was a rich bastard, he was just like the rest of them. He’d got bored of waiting for Zoro to roll over, got himself drunk on red drinks and decided to take what was his. He’d assumed that Sanji’s drink had been spiked but maybe not; maybe the cook didn’t have the guts to do this to him without being under the influence.

“Zoro? Zoro let me in.” Sanji’s voice calls from the door, the handle rattles and Zoro is ashamed at the way he flinches away. He’s afraid of Sanji, genuinely afraid. He doesn’t want to be hurt like this again, and he won’t have the luck of not being able to remember it next time. Next time Sanji will almost certainly make sure that he’ll be awake and lucid. His vision goes blurry at his eyes fill, how could he be so naively trusting?

“Zoro please, I don’t- I don’t remember what happened. Please, why… why were you tied up?” Sanji asks through the wood of the door. 

Zoro bites his tongue and remembers not to throw up. He turns his back on the door and lets out a shaky breath that he didn’t realise that he was holding in. 

He needs to face facts, he can’t stay in here forever. He has to come out or let Sanji in at some point. Then he can get off this island, go back to hom- no. To Sanji’s house. Then he can pretend like everything is fine, even sleep with Sanji under the pretence of consent if he has to. He’ll pretend like everything is fine. Then he can get to Nami, get his swords back and kill Sanji. He can penetrate Sanji with his blade just as Sanji has clearly done to him, only Sanji will die from this and slowly. The cook betrayed him. He’ll take back everything good that he ever said about him, maybe even let Ace burn the fucker’s house down. He’ll run to Cindry, get her to take his collar off, take Nami and the D brothers, run and never look back. He’ll run until he dies if he has to. 

“Zoro, please! Please tell me that I didn’t… hurt you. I don’t remember what happened, Zoro please!” Sanji begs. Zoro shudders and hates himself all over again. 

He swipes at his eyes and looks at himself in the mirror. He can deal with this. He grabs a washcloth from the sink and wipes the come off of his belly. The overpowering smell of coconut hits him and halts his actions. Coconut? What the fuck?

A sense memory flares in his mind. Sanji’s warm golden hair against his face on the beach, the smell of coconut wafting from the shining locks. 

What the hell? 

“Oh god, Zoro please tell me that I didn’t…. no, please god. I’m sorry Zoro, I’m so sorry! Please! I don’t remember, I’m so sorry!” Sanji pleads through the door. 

Hesitantly Zoro lifts the washcloth to his face, the smell of coconut fills his nose again. Warily he licks at it and grimaces and spits as the soapy taste floods his mouth. That’s definitely not his come, or anyone else’s for that matter. He glances around the bathroom and spots a dented bottle of coconut conditioner dropped uncharacteristically in the middle of the bath. 

Feeling confused Zoro lets his hand track down his bare back towards the pain in his ass. Before he even gets to… to there pain shoots up his spine. Confused he presses against his tailbone and the pain stings sharply. He twists and looks at his ass in the mirror and is greeted by a painful looking purple bruise right over his coccyx. He remembers landing painfully on his butt when he fell out of the bed but there was no time for that to bruise that quickly, and the bruise in the wrong shape, long and diagonal as if he’d been smacked against something. 

His eyes flick to the bite on his shoulder, jagged teeth marks having left a bruise on his skin there. His mind flashes onto image after image of Sanji’s beautiful smile, lazy smiles, sleepy smiles, happy smiles, all with perfectly white straight teeth, not jagged ones. 

He grabs a towel from the nearby rail and wraps it firmly around his waist. He pulls the freestanding wicker bathroom chest out of the way, unlocks the door and pulls it open. The terrified blonde almost falls in the room with it. He grabs the back of Sanji’s neck, hauls him in the room, slams and locks the door again before quickly backing off to the other side of the room. 

Sanji’s expression is horrified with his hands over his mouth as he stares at Zoro and the huge purple mark on his shoulder, the splatter up his chest and the freaked out expression that Zoro is no doubt wearing still.

“Oh god, no. I’m so sorry Zoro, I don’t remember, I’ll never- god… just kill me!” Sanji breathes with an obvious tremor to his voice.

“Open your mouth!” Zoro orders, pointing at Sanji’s face. 

“I- what?” Sanji blinks at the apparent non-sequitur.

“Just do it!” Zoro snaps tensely. 

“Ah?” the blonde ventures warily opening his mouth, as if suspicious that Zoro’s going to reach over and rip his tongue out. Shiny straight white teeth line the cook’s mouth.

“Your teeth are straight.” He states numbly. 

“I- yeah. Zeff kicked me in the face once and then I had to have braces. Zoro- I’ve really no idea where this conversation has gone.” Sanji blinks in confusion.

Zoro sighs as something in his chest that feels a lot like dread starts to loosen.

“This,” He says touching the jagged bite mark, “isn’t straight.” 

Sanji looks confused for a second before the penny drops. The blonde gingerly leans in and inspects the mark.

“Who… who bit you if it wasn’t me?” he asks wide eyed.

“I don’t know, but maybe it’s the same person who put this all over me.” Zoro says, swiping a hand through the stuff on his stomach and chest and shoving his fingers under Sanji’s nose.

“Oh gross that’s- my… conditioner?” Sanji frowns, midway through recoiling in disgust. 

“Yeah, it’s in the bath. Did you leave that there?” he asks, jerking his thumb towards it. 

“No, it was in here.” Sanji answers with a frown and a light kick at the wicker cabinet. 

“So this isn’t what it looks like.” Zoro sighs in relief as he leans back against the sink. His tailbone throbs painfully and he winces.

“Are you okay? Down there I mean?” the blonde asks worriedly. 

“Not really, but not like that. I’ve got this huge bruise, but I think it’s because I’ve smashed my tailbone on something, a step maybe? But everything else is… fine.” Zoro answers, trailing off in embarrassment. 

He sighs shakily and lets the tension and plans to kill Sanji out of vengeance rush out of his body. It’s going to take a while for him to stop being on edge with the adrenaline still in his system, but he’s okay. He wasn’t wrong to trust Sanji. Not that he apparently did trust him. He scowls at the tiles on the floor, Sanji has never given him a solid reason not to trust him but evidently he’s able to leap to the conclusion of him being rapist scum at even the most lightly convincing evidence. Is he always going to be like this? Is he always going to find it hard to trust people? 

Even when he was with Ace he could only ever top. Sure, he used the excuse that the institute checked them, but that didn’t happen to him all that often, not once Chopper got in charge, it’d been a valid excuse for Nami as a female doctor looked after her reproductive health. He’d just never been able to properly relax, even with Ace. He’d not been able to let go of all of his control like that. Has the institute just damaged him beyond repair?

“Why would someone do this to us?” Sanji wonders aloud in horror. 

“You know why.” Zoro answers numbly. Because they dared to fight back, because they spoke out, because Sanji wasn’t abusing him. 

“But to set something like this up, we’d have to have been stupid to not have worked it out eventually. What was the goal here?” the blonde presses with a frown. Zoro looks up and realises what Sanji is getting at, what was the motive behind doing this? What was someone trying to herd them into doing?

“The window…” he gasps. 

“Your bed, it faces that huge patio door. The only reason to do this is to put on a show for someone.” He adds as the horrifying thought occurs. 

“I can hardly protest the way that mates are treated if I’m abusing and raping my own can I?” Sanji finishes Zoro’s thought for him with an angry look. 

“So someone’s watching us then? But who? I thought it was just your family on the island?” Zoro questions.

“No, one of Fullbody’s friends is a journalist, my father insisted that I shouldn’t talk to her. I bet she’s out there, my uncle must have set this up so she’d have a real show and a story to report on.” The blonde growls. With his still slightly red eyes the blonde’s expression makes him look almost demonic. Suddenly an idea occurs to Zoro. He scrubs the washcloth over his chest to get rid of the last of the conditioner and throws it into the sink.

“I’ve got a plan. They want a show? We’ll give them a show, come on and play along.” He orders, hooking a finger around the boxers that Sanji had clearly hastily put on before coming into the bathroom. He pulls him towards the patio door and slides it open, pulling Sanji out into the warm sunshine.

“You owe me an apology.” He grins at Sanji as he backs him up against one of the railings. The blonde squeaks as he hits the rail. 

“You left me tied up all night, now my shoulders and wrists are killing me.” He declares, loud enough for any hiding snoops to hear as he leans into Sanji’s personal space. 

“I’m sorry.” Sanji says sadly, his hand running over the angry red and purple marks over Zoro’s wrists. The blonde looks so forlorn and guilty, he probably thinks that this is entirely his fault when it’s not, it’s his fucking family’s fault. 

“Hey, don’t look so sad, I’d rather you just made it up to me.” He grins at Sanji and leans in to suck a bite into the soft skin just under Sanji’s ear. 

“Ohhh.” Sanji hums in pleasure, the sound reverberating through Zoro’s teeth. 

“I can make it up to you. Ah!” Sanji yelps as Zoro runs his hand up Sanji’s side and scratches at his over-sensitised skin. The drink in Sanji’s system is making him a million times more responsive than usual, he’s not hiding any of his reactions either. Zoro leans back a little and looks through the curtain of the panting blonde’s hair and sure enough he spots the figure in the bushes and the shine of a camera lens. 

Well, he needed to give them a show didn’t he? Something that would unequivocally prove that he was the one in control here, that he’d just been pissed earlier from being tied up instead of terrified beyond belief. He needed to do something so at odds with the idea of him being raped that the idea would be laughably unbelievable. 

Without a second thought he grabs the blonde’s hips and hikes him up against the railing, pressing him against it with his own hips. Sanji’s long lean bare legs wrap around him sinuously and he leans back helplessly strung out with desire. He grinds forwards into the cook and smirks at the desperate moan it draws from the other man. 

He slides an appreciative hand up Sanji’s long heavily muscled leg, it’s more slender than Zoro’s own but he’s in no doubt that these legs could crush him if the cook wanted him to, in that department he has no doubt who was stronger and Sanji won literally hands down. The muscles under Zoro’s touch jump and twitch under his hand and soft whining is starting to escape the blonde’s lips near constantly. 

Sanji pulls himself forward and flush against Zoro, his constrained hardness in his boxers rubbing against Zoro’s stomach and starting a fire inside him.

“Oh god Zoro, is this… is this okay? I saw how scared you were earlier I don’t want to- oh oh.” Sanji’s whispering into Zoro’s ear cuts off as Zoro’s thumb scrapes along the line of Sanji’s boxers, causing the cook’s hips to judder out of reflex against him. 

In lieu of an answer he leans in and catches Sanji’s mouth in a passionate kiss that has their tongues warring, their breath hitching and banishing all thoughts of this even being a show from Zoro’s mind. All he wants is this, he wants his cook desperate for him, he wants to draw these sounds from the smart mouthed blonde chef. It’s so different from his thoughts just ten minutes ago but despite his fucked up condition, he really does love Sanji, he’d panicked when he’d thought that the blonde had betrayed him, he’d sworn to kill him out of hurt and fear. But this… this was who the cook really was, open, honest and hot as hell. 

Sanji has been reduced to incoherent pleading for more as he grinds desperately against Zoro. It’s that edge of desperation that reminds Zoro that Sanji is still… under the influence. He shouldn’t really be doing this, not this much anyway. Irritated at himself for teasing himself he grabs Sanji’s ass, just for support purposes, honest. (Though if he happens to grope the cook then… well…) He turns and takes the blonde inside. Sanji is perfectly happy being carried by Zoro though, he’s latched on around Zoro’s waist with his legs like a vice and is doing his level best to kiss Zoro’s common sense completely away. 

He drops the panting blonde on the bed and turns back to the window, he slides the door along, locks it and pulls the curtain fully over it. He pauses for a moment and looks over at Sanji, he’s obviously hard, not that Zoro isn’t himself but Sanji looks really desperate for it. 

He makes his way over to the bed, feeling concerned for Sanji. The blonde’s eyes flick open and Sanji’s long dexterous leg snags him around the waist and pulls him down on top of Sanji. The other man catches his mouth expertly and kisses him, his hot wet tongue shoving away all of Zoro’s sane thoughts. He manages to pull them back though, namely thoughts like ‘I really shouldn’t be doing this’ and ‘I’m taking advantage of Sanji here’ and most of all ‘he doesn’t really mean it, it’s just the drink’ 

“Sanji, Sanji stop.” He manages between fervent kisses. He catches the blonde’s shoulder and shoves him down against the bed. 

“Please no, just… don’t leave me like this Zoro, please.” Sanji begs, red faced and needy. 

That voice alone would be enough to break greater men, Zoro bites his lip and tries to focus. 

“You don’t mean this, you’re still under the influence.” He reasons, closing his eyes so that he doesn’t have to see the gorgeous man below him. On the bed. Begging for him. Hell…

“How much… how much did I have?” the blonde pants. 

“I don’t know, three, maybe four drinks? I don’t know the ratio that they were spiking your drink at.” Zoro answers, daring to look down at the cook again.

“That explains why I feel like I’m literally going to die of heart failure if you don’t touch me! Please just…” Sanji begs, snagging one of Zoro’s hands and running it up his side. The cook whines deliciously at the contact. 

“But it’s not real.” He argues back. At that Sanji leans up on his elbows and shuffles up the bed, he looks levelly at Zoro although his chest is heaving and his hands are shaking. 

“Look at me Zoro, I’m not that under it, not as bad as you were when I had to get you home from that party. I’m not possessed, I’m just… fuck, what you did out there has pushed me too close and I feel like I’m dying here.” Sanji gasps, shuddering violently. 

“You must remember what this feels like, you know I can’t do anything about this on my own so please just help me!” The cook begs, clawing at Zoro’s skin. 

Zoro wants to… he really does.

“But… you’ll hate me for it. I’m taking advantage.” He mumbles. He has sympathy for the cook though, he remembers that night tied to the bed, he remembers how he wanted to die rather than feel like that. All he could think about was getting off and nothing but Sanji would do it, not grating against the bed so hard he got friction burns, nothing. Not until Sanji touched him and made him come. 

“Do you hate me for what I did?” Sanji challenges. Zoro gazes up at him, the cook’s eyes aren’t blue but they’re not crimson either, just a pink hue over blue. They are however dark with arousal and shining desperately. Mutely he shakes his head, no, he doesn’t hate Sanji for what he did.

“Please.” Sanji whimpers. 

Zoro crawls up the bed and smoothes the desperate blonde down against the covers, if he’s going to do this he’s going to do it right. He strokes a hand up the cook’s side and kisses along the expanse of lean creamy skin across the cook’s chest. He flattens his tongue across a nipple, earning him a cry of ‘yes!’ from Sanji. 

Sanji is panting and shaking beneath him, leaning into every touch, every stroke of his skin. Sanji whines into Zoro’s mouth as Zoro slides the blonde’s boxers off his slender hips and frees his reddened cock. Sanji flicks the towel at Zoro’s waist free with his foot and reaches down to palm Zoro appreciatively in a way that makes the swordsman’s brain short circuit. 

No longer having the patience to tease the cook Zoro just leans down and swallows Sanji whole, he enjoys the long string of groans and curses that the blonde lets out. He runs his tongue up the underside of Sanji, mapping out the unfamiliar but impressive dimensions of the cook. Pretty quickly he has to use his right hand to pin Sanji to the bed or else the cook might just destroy Zoro’s throat with his flailing about. 

As nice as Sanji’s voice is Zoro tunes it out because it’s no longer helpful but instead a long series of nonsensical pleas, gasps and curse words. He should really be doing this just for Sanji, he should be trying to get Sanji off as quickly as possible as a mercy to the cook. He shouldn’t be enjoying it all quite so much. Frankly he’s close to coming himself just from how hot this is, from how responsive and needy the other man is. He shouldn’t be gently lapping at the head and filing away the taste of Sanji into his mind and imagination forever. 

He swallows Sanji properly and starts to use his hand on the other man, reducing him to a trembling mess. The blonde’s back is arching sharply and if that and the way he’s clutching at the covers is any indication he’s incredibly close he doesn’t know what is. 

“Oh, oh Zoro!” Sanji yells. Zoro has the sense to hold Sanji’s hips still as the cook comes apart, he swallows around Sanji and shudders happily at the sounds that Sanji makes. 

He lets Sanji go when he’s done and he’s just considering making a hasty escape to the bathroom, he could turn the shower on and bring himself to completion in no time at all. He could make his excuses so that Sanji doesn’t know how much this has turned him on, so Sanji doesn’t know how much he wants this. 

Sanji doesn’t give him a chance though, after one last spine melting groan the blonde grabs him under his arm and hauls him up towards him. Sanji clashes their mouths together, clumsy in his post orgasmic state and tongues the inside of Zoro’s mouth, chasing his own taste. It’s Zoro’s turn to be the one helpless to resist now. Sanji shimmies underneath him and grabs Zoro’s heavy oversensitive cock and rubs at it with relentless powerful fingers. 

He shouts and moans against Sanji’s skin, giving in to the blonde’s touch and his clever mouth. It takes barely any time at all for Sanji to get him where he needs to be and when he’s done Sanji pulls him down onto the sheets and tangles their limbs together as they both drift out of the waking world in sexed out lethargy.


	17. Chapter 17

Sanji opens his eyes to a world of green, mossy, messy hair right under his nose. He inhales and the smell of Zoro’s warm skin floods his senses, making his chest hitch excitedly. His mind suddenly flashes back to Zoro’s perfect mouth on him and around him, the way his earrings chimed as he moved and the dark, hungry look in his eyes. 

As well as all of that he remembers, not that he’s sure he’ll ever forget, seeing Zoro holding himself above Sanji with his eyes squeezed shut and his lip bitten tightly between his teeth as Sanji got him to come. Every one of his senses seems to have etched the scene forever in his brain, he remembers how Zoro’s mouth tasted and the feel of his tongue, he remembers the overheated, sweat-slicked feel of Zoro’s skin. He can still remember the sounds of Zoro’s harsh breathing and the delicious sound that he actually made when he came. Sanji remembers all of it in glorious detail. 

Which is why there is a sleeping marimo tangled up with him on their bed, dozing softly on Sanji’s shoulder being effortlessly gorgeous. Part of him is worried that he might have coerced Zoro into that but… well… he had seemed to be as enthusiastic about the prospect as Sanji was, and his own orgasm had come so quickly and easily right afterwards that there was no way that Sanji could even manage to argue that Zoro hadn’t wanted this. But what exactly was “this”? Was it just the sex? One part of Sanji was completely happy with that but really he wanted it all. He wanted Zoro to actually want to be with him, stupid short temper, foul mouth, flaws and all. Now that Sanji was less certain of. 

He untangles himself carefully from Zoro’s warm sleeping body and sneaks into the bathroom, feeling dumb for sneaking about in what is technically his own room. He turns the shower on and spots the half empty bottle of conditioner in the bottom of the bath. Frowning he pulls it out and glares at it. As lucky as he feels for it having all been faked he can’t help but wonder why whoever put them out in their room didn’t just go through with really hurting Zoro. Perhaps they couldn’t stomach it, either way Sanji is glad. 

He doubts that it was his father or his uncle, though almost certainly the idea originated with them. Which left one of his father’s lackeys, Jabra or Kaku were likely candidates. Scowling he throws the bottle in the bin and pulls a different one from the cupboard, it says it smells like grapefruit so he’ll take that. In a flash of incredibly pointless cosmetics based rage he throws all of his coconut stuff away and replaces it all with new things, Zoro does not need more reminders of that. He showers quickly and emerges shortly after into the bedroom with a towel around his waist. 

Zoro is sitting on the end of his bed with his towel from before slung over his own hips, the man looks contemplative which… worries Sanji. It’s not that he doesn’t like the idea of Zoro thinking, it’s just that he doesn’t like him looking so uncertain so soon after they had been… you know. Zoro doesn’t look up at him but instead stares out the window.

“We… need to talk.” Zoro begins with a frown, effectively dropping Sanji’s heart into his gut. Nothing good ever followed those words. 

“O-okay.” He says meekly. Zoro scowls at the window before sighing and looking down at the floor.

“I’m… sorry.” He says with what sounds like a tremendous amount of effort.

“Why?” Sanji asks weakly, not really wanting the answer.

“For the way I reacted, the things I thought. I should have trusted you.” The swordsman says unhappily, his gaze downcast. 

“Huh?” Sanji asks dumbly, he’s not sure that he’s following this conversation any more. Zoro’s bright earnest eyes finally meet his now and the man looks agonised about this conversation.

“I thought it was you that- I mean, you of all people!” Zoro exclaims. Suddenly it clicks in Sanji’s mind, Zoro is apologising for panicking earlier.

“What? No! You don’t owe me an apology, not at all!” he insists, waving his hands in a no gesture.

“But I thought-” Zoro cuts in, standing up.

“It’d been set up so you would, anyone would! If I’d been in your place I’d have thought the same, hell- I thought that I might have lost my mind and hurt you! I couldn’t remember anything, still can’t actually but… really, Zoro it’s fine.” He argues back.

“Oh.” Zoro finally says, seeming to relax a little. 

“God Zoro, don’t give me a heart attack like that! I thought you were going to say something awful.” He exclaims in relief. 

“Like what?” The other man quizzes with a curious expression on his face.

Sanji stops at that, should he really say what he thought? That Zoro was going to say it was all a big mistake? Doing so would pretty much out him as wanting more from Zoro, he wouldn’t really be able to go back from that. But… god. He turns to look at Zoro, the man is amazing, gorgeous and strong – both mentally and physically. He really should put his cards down on the table.

“I thought that-” Sanji begins.

“Oops! Looks like we’re interrupting something!” A high pitched voice laughs from the ceiling. 

Sanji jerks in horror and spins to look up and see his cousin Perona floating up in the corner of his room along with a pink haired toddler that drops from the air duct and turns into a fully grown Bonney before she hits the floor. 

“Yeah, you are! Do you mind?!” He yells at them. 

“I don’t mind at allll.” Perona smiles deviously, her eyes focused behind Sanji. Sanji glances behind him to see a considerably less pleased looking Zoro glaring back at Perona.

“Focus Perona.” Bonney sighs shaking her head.

“Sanji, we saw that photographer’s pictures this morning, Perona heard that she’s going to write one hell of a story when she gets back. She’s already left and I guarantee you that it’s not the kind of story that Uncle was expecting. You need to get your asses out of here now.” Bonney explains quickly. Sanji pales at that thought, he’d not considered that he might be on the island still when the story broke. In fact none of this playing to the cameras business had been his plan at all, it was all Zoro. 

“There’s a plane on the runway too, and it’s not one of ours.” Perona smiles sneakily, trying to crane her neck to see around Sanji to Zoro a little more, Sanji steps back closer to Zoro to stop her. That’s probably possessive and bad but oh well, he’s done it now. 

“What kind of plane?” He manages to ask instead.

“One with flowers and hands on the tail, it’s kind of cute.” His stupidly gothic cousin informs him with a overly saccharine laugh. 

“Robin. I say we get out of here.” Zoro says quietly in Sanji’s ear, making him shiver ever so slightly. 

“Good plan, we’ll get dressed then leave. You two can leave too!” He adds snappishly at his cousins. 

“Whatever.” Perona huffs and flies through the wall. Bonney leaps up and grabs the air vent, shrinking and getting younger as she hauls herself into it until she’s just a toddler again. 

“Is that ever not weird?” Zoro asks after a moment. 

“Honestly? Not really. Known them since I was born and it’s still odd.” Sanji answers shaking his head. 

“Shower.” Zoro declares and grabs some clothes from the dresser before entering the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. 

“Thanks a lot girls, really lost my moment there.” He mutters unhappily to himself and dresses. 

In no time at all Zoro is clean and dressed, Sanji kind of preferred him sticky and naked. Okay, definitely preferred it. He’s got enough of their stuff packed in a bag that they feel comfortable enough with slipping out onto the patio and running down the beach, they follow the line of the ocean for a little while until they hit the tarmac of the runway and spy the plane with Robin’s signature flowers and hands on the tail.

Zoro dashes ahead towards the open door and the rope ladder hanging from it. They climb it and he’s surprised to be pulled up the last few feet by Franky’s large hands. He pulls the door shut behind them and wordlessly heads up towards the front of the plane.

“Franky?” he questions in surprise.

“Well someone had to fly the plane.” Robin smiles at him serenely from her seat. 

“Nami!” Zoro yelps next to him and before Sanji can register it his swordsman’s arms are suddenly full of curvaceous redhead. 

“Zoro!” She exclaims, burying her face in his neck for a moment. After a second or two she glances up over the edge of Zoro’s collar and levels him with a suspicious look, Sanji flinches under the heat of it and, as if it was a sign of guilt, she glares harder. 

“Here.” She says simply, pulling back from Zoro and handing him his precious swords. Zoro audibly groans with relief and quickly fastens them around his waist. He watches with some interest as Zoro’s frame visibly relaxes, he feels… safer perhaps? Well he is armed quite literally to the teeth now so he supposes that it makes sense. 

“Your wrists!” She exclaims holding Zoro’s hands and examining his bruised up wrists. Sanji feels an uncomfortable twinge of guilt, Zoro does seem to get hurt an awful lot more than is usual when he’s around him. He’s probably bad for Zoro. 

Nami comes to the same conclusion, or possibly a worse one as her face flashes with endless rage. Suddenly her hands are full of the same blue weapon that he’d seen her nearly kill Blackbeard with before. 

“Oi, not him. His family.” Zoro sighs, pulling on Nami’s hair. 

“Don’t pull my hair you bastard!” She snaps, wheeling around to face Zoro.

“Don’t call me a bastard, bitch!” Zoro shouts back. 

This almost instantly devolves into a screaming match between the pair of them, both shouting insults so loudly at each other at the same time that it’s impossible to make out a thing that they’re saying. Even the plane taking off barely phases them as they hang onto seats at the opposite ends of aisle and shout at each other. Nami threatening to rob Zoro blind and Zoro threatening to cut her head off. 

“It sort of makes you glad to be an only child doesn’t it?” Robin sighs from the seat next to him.

“A little bit, yeah.” Sanji agrees. 

Robin runs her elegant fingers through her hair for a moment and tucks it behind her delicate ears. Sanji tries to remind himself that she doesn’t actually care about him. She folds her arms neatly across her chest, as if she was trying to hug herself, a sign of insecurity probably.

“I meant what I said before Sanji, I do care about you, and you are my friend. But there are bigger problems out there and I merely needed your position to help solve them. I… apologise if I seemed manipulative, but I didn’t intend to put you in any undue danger.” Robin sighs and looks at him with her big blue-green eyes. 

Sanji bites his lip and remembers that she used him.

“There is a philosopher that I’ve read before, I personally dislike him and he has some very flawed theories but he had one that I think you’re ascribing to here. It’s part of his categorical imperative. He says that we must “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.” You seem to think that I treated you just as a means to some greater goal of mine, but that’s not true.” Robin quotes at him. 

“It feels pretty true.” Sanji says quietly, it feels like it’s all anyone but Zoro treats him as. 

“Not so, Kant was against slavery. By owning someone you treat them just as a means, not as a person with their own free will. You can’t have free will if you’re owned, no matter how benevolent an owner you may have.” Robin points out. Sanji bristles at that comment, he didn’t get a choice about owning Zoro and he’s offered him the chance to leave already, what more does he have to do?!

“By giving you the chance to change the world you can free Zoro and get what you really want. You want him to be free, you want him to have the absolute ability to choose and to still choose you. I’m helping you by getting you to do this.” She says gently. 

“Where was my choice though? You didn’t let me choose to do this for him, and I would have, but you didn’t let me.” He says quietly. Robin nods her head silently and stares into the distance for a moment or two.

“I’m very used to being self reliant Sanji, after what your father did to me and my people, to my mother… I had no one. I’m not used to having people want to help me out of their own free will, if… if I need your help again in future I shall ask and give you a chance to say no if you wish.” She says quietly. Sanji’s weak heart melts.

“I’m never going to say no Robin, not to you. But you should still ask.” Sanji sighs with a soft smile. 

A natural silence falls between them for a few seconds and in that time he hears a sound that nearly rips his heart out.

One quiet, solitary sob. 

And it’s Zoro. 

He remembers the sound all too well from when Zoro told him about Nami’s supposed death, but he never wanted to hear it again. He tries to spring to his feet but suddenly ten hands hold him down. Robin shakes her head and he understands that this moment isn’t for him. He strains his ears and hears Nami’s quiet soothing voice from the back of the plane. 

“I will kill him. I don’t know how or when but I will Zoro, for this, for everything. Spandam will die.” Nami vows quietly. 

“Stop, I’m fine. Nothing…. Nothing happened.” Zoro says back in a voice that’s still got an unstable tremor in its tone, Sanji’s heart breaks a little more. 

“I’m going to go see how Franky’s doing.” He declares and unbuckles his seat belt, striding to the front of the plane and shutting the door behind him. 

The cyborg glances up at him and offers him a warm smile.

“Wanna be my co-pilot?” He offers, gesturing to the pilot seat beside him. 

“As long as I don’t have control of anything that might plunge us into the ocean and a terrible death.” Sanji answers, dropping into the chair with a sigh.

“Don’t worry.” Franky chuckles. 

“Man… I’m hungry. I need some of Zeff’s food.” Sanji sighs, leaning back in the chair. He feels too lost, too spun around and disorientated, he’s just stumbling from one goddamn disaster to another. He needs food and he needs his home, his real home. 

When they land Sanji leaves Zoro with Nami, he looks normal now, or as normal as a six foot, green haired, sword wielding maniac can look. At least he doesn’t look like he’s shed a single tear. His feet get him to Zeff’s without him really paying attention to how he gets there. He walks into the kitchen through the back door and stops on the other side of the counter from Zeff, ignoring everyone else. 

“Old man, I need your advice.” He says simply.

The room goes quiet, Zeff’s eyes go wide and someone across the room drops a pan lid which rolls comically across the floor towards Sanji before spinning a few times and dropping to the floor.

“WHAT?!” Everyone in the kitchen but him and Zeff yells in unison.

Sanji has never in all his years asked for advice from Zeff. Not once. Oh sure, sometimes Zeff has given advice, shouted it sometimes, but always unsolicited. Or sometimes Sanji has mentioned a problem in his vicinity and listened carefully to the anecdote or gruff statement that Zeff might make afterwards. But never has he admitted that he’s so lost, so hopelessly screwed as to outright ask. 

Zeff strokes his moustache and turns on his peg leg, leading Sanji up the stairs into the small home that they used to share. Zeff sits in the indentation on the sofa that he’s always sat in, Sanji spots his own place at the furthest other end of the sofa, as far away from Zeff as possible. Instead of sitting there he sits on the floor by Zeff’s feet. 

“I love Zoro.” He states outright. The old man says nothing.

“I’m absolutely completely gone, he’s all I think about, all I dream about. But he’s in a bad place, being owned is wrong for him, I tried to set him free and damn the consequences but he wouldn’t leave without me and I couldn’t just leave and throw you under the bus. My father would take everything out on you, the Baratie, everyone here. So he stayed with me.” Sanji continues. 

He traces a pattern on the carpet with his finger and speaks again into the silence that Zeff is leaving for him.

“My father won’t change the rules, and everything I do to try to make things better seems to make it worse. Last night he set up a situation so that Zoro would think that I’d raped him, assuming that my father hadn’t just hoped that Fullbody hadn’t drugged me enough to make me do it for real. Zoro was smart enough to work out that it was fake, he changed the set up into something that would make us look good in the press, something that would strengthen my case. There was a photographer, there will probably be pictures in the paper tomorrow.” He says shaking his head. 

“But I can’t shake the suspicion that this is just going to get worse and the whole situation is already careening out of control, something bad is going to happen and I just know it. Father will be furious when he sees the photos and sees what we did to his plan, he’s so vengeful and I’m afraid for Zoro.” He adds, spilling out all the fear that he’s been keeping inside him. 

“But I… I don’t even know whether Zoro even feels the same way about me. I’m doing this because I love him and I’m trying to do what he wants and what Robin wants, but… I don’t know if Zoro really… He has a friend, a guy named Ace – he hates me. They used to be a thing… I don’t know if they still are or…” Sanji trails off.

“I’m scared that I’m going to lose everything that I care about and get my heart broken, what do I do?” He finally asks, looking up at his old man. 

Zeff, the only true father he’s ever had, the only family he had since his mother died, looks down at him with deep old eyes. His expression is sad and it’s some moments before he speaks to answer.

“I loved once, as you are now. But I was young and stupid, prideful too maybe. I thought that if someone wasn’t willing to risk everything for me then they didn’t really love me, I left when I was given the chance to leave. I left when I should have stayed by her side. I’d thought that she didn’t want to risk everything for me but it wasn’t until years later that I realised that she was risking everything to protect me, because she loved me.” Zeff says quietly, his eyes distant and sad. 

“Yours has risked everything to stay with you and don’t kid yourself into thinking otherwise, you’re the most dangerous person for him to be around right now. I’ve been watching the news, and I know what your father is like, you’ve declared war and you can’t go back on it now.” Zeff says in a sobering tone. 

“So what do I do?” Sanji asks wide eyed.

“You fight, you’ve got the only thing worth fighting for, love. You fight because if you don’t you’re going to lose it. You’ve got what it takes my boy but it may well just take everything you’ve got, so don’t hold back.” Zeff declares gruffly, his peg leg thumping emphatically against the wooden floor. 

“But what if he doesn’t feel the same way about me?” Sanji asks in a small voice. 

“Don’t be stupid Sanji, he wouldn’t have stayed if he didn’t. Now man up and tell him how you feel, you never have as much time as you think you do… believe me.” The old man says in a sad tone. 

Sanji bites his lip, he can picture Zoro rejecting him and running to Ace.

“Grow a pair and do it.” Zeff snaps, standing up abruptly. 

Sanji nods, it’s tough advice but it’s well given, he should listen… he should… he should tell Zoro how he feels and accept whatever the other man says. 

“Oh… and one more thing.” Zeff says casually as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. One slow part of Sanji’s brain wonders why that gesture looks so familiar, then before he knows it he’s flat on his back with a shoe heel painfully embedded in his sternum. 

Zeff has him pinned to the floor and he means to hurt. He can’t even breathe, Zeff’s heel is paralysing his lungs, making him unable to suck air in and out; he feels like he’s dying. The old man leans down until his face is close enough that his stupid moustache almost touches Sanji’s face.

“You owe me your life you shitty excuse for a son, I nearly died to save you, I lost my leg to save your life so the next time you’re offered a chance to actually live the fucking thing you’d better take it or I’ll take your life back.” Zeff snarls in his face, ignoring Sanji’s hands frantically scrabbling at his ankle. 

“Don’t you let me ever catch you sacrificing anything for me, much less love of all things. As if someone like me needs some punk kid getting in the way by causing trouble for himself in order to protect me. I’m a million times stronger than you shitty eggplant. So don’t you dare risk another goddamn thing for me, you understand?” Zeff shouts, easing off his heel enough to let Sanji suck in a breath of blessed air. 

“Do you understand?” Zeff demands again.

“Yes! Yes!” Sanji coughs out breathing in big gulps of air. Zeff removes his foot entirely and humpfs in an entirely dissatisfied way. 

“Jesus Christ, I think you punctured a lung or something.” Sanji wheezes, pulling himself unsteadily to his feet. 

“Well maybe it’ll remind you. Now beat it.” Zeff snaps, kicking in his direction. Sanji rolls out of the way in time and scrambles out of the room. He hesitates on the stairs and sneaks back, opening the door to the room.

“Love you too old man!” He calls and dashes down the stairs before Zeff’s wrath can chase him. 

Sanji walks into his home with his heart in his throat, he loves Zoro, he knows that he does but... Despite Zeff's words he's not sure that he can bring himself to say that to Zoro. It's just too much possibility of rejection in one go. But he has to say SOMETHING, they can't go on as they have been, especially after what happened this morning.

He is about to head upstairs in search of Zoro when he hears a noise in the kitchen. Curious he opens the kitchen door and finds Zoro leaning his arm on top of the open fridge door, looking inside hungrily. He's dressed in loose jeans which ride low on his hips, showing a delicious stripe of skin below his faded t-shirt. Zoro seems to notice him and grins broadly at him.

"That's a pretty useful super power you've got there, I decide I'm hungry and you appear!" Zoro chuckles.

"I aim to please." Sanji says bowing deeply with an equally stupid grin on his own face.

"What would you like?" He asks, making his way to the fridge as well, leaning slightly against Zoro's warm body as he looks inside.

"Whatever you want to make, it's all good. Something warm though?" Zoro adds hopefully. Sanji hums and thinks of warming comfort food and surveys his potential ingredients.

"Carbonara?" he suggests, glancing up at Zoro. The other man's beaming smile is enough of a yes for him, he laughs and pulls out the ingredients.

Zoro hops up to sit on the opposite counter and watch Sanji cook.

"How was your old man? I would have gone with you if you wanted but Nami was here, that and every time I see your old man something bad happens. First time I got my face smashed into a wall and the second time I got set on fire." Zoro laughs.

"He's fine." Sanji laughs.

"Hey, about Ace... Luffy mentioned something when he was here last." Sanji says, trying to conceal his nervousness as he pretends to focus on his cooking, this is actually a little easier with an excuse to not make eye contact with Zoro.

"Everything Luffy says is weird, I wouldn't take whatever it was too seriously." Zoro snorts and reaches around Sanji to grab a glass from the cupboard by Sanji's head, making him jump slightly. Zoro goes to the sink to fill it with water.

"It was about you and Ace." Sanji says after a deep breath. Zoro swears loudly as the tap suddenly turns on too high, spraying them both.

"Shit, sorry." Zoro mutters, switching it off.

"He said that you and Ace were... ah..." Sanji starts, searching for a word that wasn't "fucking". Evidently his pause is long enough and significant enough for Zoro to get the idea.

“Yeah I can guess. Man, Luffy just can’t keep his mouth shut.” Zoro mutters.

Sanji nods, so, that’s that then. Zoro and Ace are really a thing. Well, it isn’t surprising, Zoro is gorgeous and loyal. 

“That explains why Ace hates me so much I guess, if you two are together.” He sighs and stirs his sauce.

“Wait, what?” Zoro asks with a note of surprise in his voice. 

“Well, it must be pretty rough for him seeing you around me so much, especially with everything in the papers. No wonder he’s pissed off at me and fought with you.” Sanji explains, looking over his shoulder at the startled looking Zoro.

“Sanji, Ace and I aren’t together. We haven’t been for- and it was never like that anyway.” Zoro says quickly. Sanji raises his eyebrows in surprise, what did Zoro mean then? The other man bites at his lip for a second before looking down at the glass in his hand and starting to speak.

“I didn’t know when I was going to get bought, I was fifteen and really freaked out. I didn’t want my first time to be with some hideous rich bastard against my will, so I decided that no matter what I was going to have sex before that. If I’d known I’d get you I might have changed my mind.” Zoro adds with a mutter, making Sanji’s eyes go wide with surprise.

“I could never escape from the institute for very long, certainly not enough time to get involved with someone. And… well… I’m not exactly proud of it but Ace and I were already friends and he was more than willing. It was supposed to be just the once but it ended up happening a little more than that, but it was just sex and he certainly wasn’t my boyfriend or anything.” He says shaking his head at the idea. 

Sanji stirs his sauce a little more and thinks about that. He remembers the way that Ace looked at him, the angrier he looked the more Zoro defended him. He remembers how furious Ace looked when he’d misinterpreted Zoro’s explanation of the handcuff marks on his wrists to think that they were having sex. Ace was jealous, most definitely so. Possessive too. 

“Does Ace know that?” He challenges gently.

“Yeah, we’ve argued about it before. He says we’re together, I say we’re not, he acts like an asshole, we argue, we make up, I get drunk or stupid, we sleep together again and repeat.” Zoro grumbles. Sanji winces and for the first time ever he feels a pang of sympathy for the fiery guy, it must really suck to have Zoro like that and keep losing him. That said, he wasn’t sure that is position was much better at all, at least not right now. 

“Why’d you bring it up?” Zoro asks as Sanji drops fresh penne pasta into boiling water. 

“I ah… I wanted to talk to you about a few things, that was one of them.” He stalls. 

“Okay…” Zoro says slowly, clearly expecting Sanji to go on. Sanji keeps his back to Zoro and reminds himself of Zeff’s words, the throbbing bruise on his chest hardly gives him an opportunity to forget in fairness. Still, he’s a little nervous. He decides to ease into it gently. 

“Remember when you first got here and I told you that this wouldn’t be how you expected?” He hedges. 

“Yeah, I didn’t believe you but you were being honest.” Zoro answers from behind him.

“Well, remember how I said that even though I intended on leaving you completely on your own if you wanted but in public we would have to act otherwise?” He continues nervously, pretending to focus completely on his cooking. 

“Yeah. Is this about the photos? Because-” Zoro interrupts him.

“Let me finish.” Sanji cuts in, shaking his head. He knows that if he doesn’t say this now then he may well come down with one of Usopp’s cowardly diseases. 

“I don’t know when it happened exactly but… well… the stuff that we fake in public, or in front of that photographer… I… it’s not… fake. Not for me.” Sanji says quietly, unable to stall any longer. 

“What?” Zoro says in a strange voice, Sanji hears him put his glass down. Oh god, this can’t be good.

“I just wanted to say, especially after this morning, I needed you to know. But the same deal as before still stands, I still mean what I said in this room on your first morning here, I don’t intend to coerce you into anything at all! If you don’t want me anywhere near you then I’ll keep as far away from you as you want, I’m not a creep.” He explains quickly. His heart is plummeting in his chest and is now somewhere in his stomach, Zoro is staying way too silent through all of this. Sanji suddenly starts wracking his brains wondering if Zoro was wearing his swords when Sanji came in. He doesn’t think that he was but even so they’re usually not too far away, oh god, what if the other man cuts his head off or something?!

“And I’m not expecting anything or nothing, it’s just for some reason which is presently escaping me I thought that I should tell you, which was a really dumb idea because-” He runs on, only cutting off when Zoro tugs on the back of his shirt. 

“Hey, look at me. You know you babble when you’re nervous?” Zoro says, tugging at Sanji’s chin to make him look at him. Sanji’s not sure that he can do that though so he quickly starts looking anywhere but Zoro, even though his face is now pointed at him.

“Well, you see,” He starts babbling again, staring at Zoro’s earrings instead of his eyes.

“I’m pretty much panicking here and trying to lengthen the amount of time between me starting this stupid conversation and you dismembering me with your swords.” He explains quickly. 

“You’re definitely babbling.” Zoro says flatly, though worrying not saying that he doesn’t intend to dismember Sanji. Perhaps he does. Well, it was an okay life. Okay, the bits with Zeff were good but the rest pretty much sucked all around. 

The kiss startles him, so much that he nearly jolts himself completely out of it. But no, Zoro is… kissing him. Sweetly and gently. The lips against his give way to teeth as Zoro grins against his mouth.

"It's real for me too dumbass." Zoro says gently against Sanji's skin.

"I'm not a dumbass. How was I supposed to know?" Sanji mutters glaring at the grinning Zoro. He thought that being rejected would be awful but being told that he was stupid wasn't great either.

"What? Are you gonna insult me now and say that this morning would have still happened if everything was just an act?" Zoro questions with a laugh.

Sanji decides that it'd probably be best for him to not incriminate himself and further so he says quiet and avoids Zoro's gaze.

"Seriously?" Zoro remarks in surprise.

"I don't know! You'd only just stopped panicking and you could have had a concussion or still be worried that I was drugged up enough not to take no for an answer! I spent half of the plane ride back worried that you were never going to forgive me and the other half worrying about having this conversation!" he exclaims indignantly.

"That's kind of sweet." Zoro smirks at him.

"Shut up." Sanji huffs.

"It's a good thing dumbass." Zoro tuts. But before Sanji can protest about being called a dumbass again Zoro's lips are on his, which makes his general mood and world view infinitely better.

He pulls away from Zoro after a few long happy moments and grins like a complete fool.

"I didn't think that this would go like this." He admits with a smile.

"Really? I didn't think I was being subtle, last time I kissed you when no one was around you pretended it didn't happen. And you seemed to be doing the same about this morning too, I figured that you weren't really interested." Zoro points out.

Sanji rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and realises that Zoro is right, all the signs that Zoro wanted him were there he just hadn't seen them. He either figured that he was reading into them too much, projecting his own desires onto Zoro, or that he didn't deserve him. He’d been so paranoid about exploiting Zoro that he’d just been completely ignoring everything the other man had been trying to tell him. Now he really does feel like dumbass. 

“Okay, I am a dumbass.” He sighs.

“I’m told that admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards recovery.” Zoro smirks at him. 

“Anyway,” he adds resting his chin in his palm, “it kind of suits you.”

“Shut up.” Sanji grouses, turning back to his sauce and stirring it, the stuff was starting to stick to the bottom of the pan – something that he never normally allows to happen. 

"I don't know what we're going to do Zoro, especially when my father finds out." Sanji sighs, as the awful nature of the rest of their situation settles in.

"Do you mean the photos or us?" The other man asks curiously. 

“The photos, well… both I guess.” Sanji answers with some consideration. He really doesn’t know just what the photographer got shots of or how it looks, he’s not sure how it’ll play out except for him being certain that it wasn’t what his father planned. 

“Eh, we’ll deal with it when it comes. There’s nothing that we can do now is there?” the swordsman points out apathetically as he leans back on the counter and stretches his neck with his eyes shut. Sanji eyes him worriedly, perhaps Zoro is more used to living in fear than he is but Sanji is really uneasy with this situation. He knows just how vindictive his father can be, he’s seen the cruel punishments that his father serves up to people who cross him in business or simply don’t bend to his will. As for him… well, his disobedience will no doubt be seen as far worse. 

His father has long held the threat of harm to Zeff and the Baratie over him, but he and his father have had an uneasy truce with that. Spandam knew that destroying Zeff would free Sanji and make him vengeful, but equally Sanji knew that too much disobedience would lead to Spandam destroying Zeff. Now he has a new weakness, enough so that he’s got enough to lose and still lose more, Spandam could harm Zeff and hold a threat over Zoro to make him comply. Zeff had told him not to worry about him but Sanji wasn’t sure that he could do that. At least he had Zoro by his side where he could protect him first hand, Zeff was so far away. 

He mixes the pasta and sauce together and serves the dish up, pleased at Zoro’s delighted reaction. Even with his joy of Zoro’s returned affection still running through his veins he can’t quite shake the sharp whine of paranoia in his mind. He feels as if he’s fallen into a trap already but just can’t see his demise coming. Even when Zoro leaves Sanji stays in the kitchen ruminating over all of the potentially terrible things that his father could do and how he could act to stop them.


	18. Chapter 18

When Zoro leaves his bedroom the next morning he’s surprised to see Sanji’s door shut and no light coming from the cracks under the door, the other man must still be asleep. It wouldn’t be too unusual if Zoro hadn’t slept in himself. He shrugs and figures that the dumbass must have been up agonising about the stupid pictures all night.

Sanji had been agonising about it over dinner, he’d been fretting all evening and was still pacing and worrying when Zoro eventually gave up and went to bed alone. After all that Sanji had confessed yesterday, he’d not exactly been hoping to go to bed alone. But even his least subtle of hints hadn’t got through to the blonde idiot. But whatever, he was hardly in the mood to beg Sanji for anything, regardless of how gorgeous the blonde was he could still be annoying and Zoro didn’t have time for that. 

He can hear Usopp and Franky talking quietly in the kitchen, he follows the sound of their voices and when he enters the room he sees that they’re both standing over a spread of newspapers and magazines on the brightly lit wooden kitchen table. Zoro sighs, he can guess what they’re about. 

He slides between the two men and thumbs through the magazines and papers himself. They all show pictures of him and the cook in various shots of passion, the one where he had the cook pinned up against the balcony railing seems to be a favourite, and he can see why, the cooks long, lean, blissed out looking body is a complete contrast to the total control he seems to have over the man. A big change from what would normally ever be expected in your typical master and mate relationship. It sells clearly because it’s both sexy and controversial. Great.

The headlines and the stories all seem to be a flutter over his and Sanji’s whirlwind romance and their apparently forbidden love. The trite nature of it pisses him off but at least it’s mostly positive PR, though with Sanji’s father in mind that’s not necessarily a good thing either. Usopp and Franky are looking at him expectantly.

“Well, I guess Sanji will want to see this.” He grumbles picking up the stupid papers and piling them into a stack to take up to him.

“He’s asleep, completely dead to the world, I tried knocking and didn’t get a thing.” Usopp remarks worriedly. 

“Then I’ll kick him out of bed.” Zoro huffs, he doesn’t have any patience for treating Sanji like some spoiled rich brat who had to be catered to because that wasn’t who he was. He folds the papers under his arm and stalks off upstairs, letting himself into Sanji’s bedroom and shutting the door behind him as if he owned the place. The curtains are all drawn and the room is mostly dark, the occupied bed stands in the centre of the room in a complete mess.

He spies the mop of messy gold hair just peeking out of a pile of duvet in the middle of the bed like a cocoon. There’s one solitary hairy leg sticking out of the protective cocoon of covers. It’d be sweet if Sanji wasn’t being so irritating.

“Wake up sleeping ugly.” Zoro grunts, kicking the bed. Some soft cursing emits from the bed sheet cocoon and after some rustling one evil looking blue eye appears, it focuses on the newspapers under his arm before the covers tighten.

“Get those things out of here!” Sanji orders, his voice muffled through the covers, with one graceful hand pointing in the direction of the papers under his arms. 

“They’re not going to go away if I take them out of here you know, they’re still published, people are still reading them.” Zoro points out reasonably, as if talking to a child. 

“I don’t care!” Sanji says petulantly from inside the covers. 

Zoro sighs and puts the papers on the table, freeing his hands to grab at the covers. He tries to pull them off of Sanji but the blonde is clearly holding onto them tight from the inside of his nest. 

“You’re acting like a child!” He snaps, tugging fruitlessly at the covers. A pale hand snaps out of the covers, so startling Zoro that the other man manages to yank him onto the bed and haul him under the covers too. 

“Am not.” Sanji pouts in his ear. Sanji’s long legs are around his back, a sharp knee lightly threatening his kidneys. He’s face down which forces his collar uncomfortably into his neck, he coughs and squirms until he manages to flip onto his side. It’s stiflingly hot under the covers and completely dark, he can’t see a thing but he knows that Sanji is right in front of his face. He can feel the blonde’s knee gently resting on his waist now and he can feel the slight stirring of the air as Sanji’s breath ghosts across Zoro’s cheekbones. 

“Hardly convincing. Just because I put them down doesn’t mean that-” he starts again. Sanji growls and flips Zoro again so that he’s laying face up on his back with Sanji across his hips and the blonde’s hands pinning his shoulders.

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not stupid. I just…” Sanji trails off. The blonde bows his head, trailing silky strands across Zoro’s face. He pulls his hands up to rest on the slim man’s sides, he realises with a start that Sanji is… naked? No, not naked, still wearing boxers but nothing else. 

“I know it’s going to be awful, or lead to something awful, I can feel it in my bones. I just want a little longer to pretend that it’s not going to happen.” Sanji sighs against his skin. 

Zoro doesn’t know what to say to that, he knows that the idea is dumb. If something bad is going to happen there’s no amount of sticking your head in the sand that’ll make it go away, either you prepare for it, or, if you can’t you just roll with it. But Sanji can’t seem to deal with that, he wants to do something but can’t and so he’s stuck in this terrible panic. 

The silent cook’s hands start to wander up Zoro’s body, slipping under his shirt and feeling his skin. Sanji strokes Zoro’s stomach and gently, in an almost ticklish way, traces the line of his diagonal scar up his chest with one hand and down towards his hip with the other. The blonde leans forward to kiss the corner of Zoro’s mouth, he ends up gasping into the kiss as the change in Sanji’s position reveals that the blonde has his mind on other things right now. 

He tilts his hips and arches his back a little to press against Sanji’s hardness, causing little stuttering breaths to come from the cook. Sanji smiles against his mouth and wriggles against Zoro’s body, pleased at the reaction he’s getting from inside Zoro’s pyjamas. Not that Zoro can or especially wants to do anything about it, after all he’s a got a (nearly) naked Sanji writhing against him, he’s only human. 

“You’re trying to distract me.” He says aloud inside the darkness under the covers. 

“Maaaaybe.” Sanji says stretching the word out as he arches his back so that he can lean down and lick Zoro’s navel. Teeth grate against his skin, making his muscles jump, and Sanji slides his shirt up until Zoro gives up and takes it off himself. 

He bites his own lip but stops when Sanji leans in to do it for him, evidently the blonde’s eyes are more adjusted to the darkness than Zoro’s own. He whimpers into the blonde’s mouth who laughs back at him before moving on. He whines and trembles under Sanji’s touch, lost in a world of darkness where all he can feel is Sanji’s clever fingers all over him, his mouth licking, biting or kissing wherever he goes and the silky splay of Sanji’s hair as he moves. He’s not usually ever this passive but it all just feels so good.

Perhaps it’s time to change things up. He wraps an arm around the blonde’s waist and flips them, taking his own turn to explore the other man’s body. Sanji is clearly enjoying it, his little twitches and jerks from his hips tell Zoro that, along with the gasps that fall from the cooks mouth but still… somehow he gets the feeling it’s not right. Sanji seems to be squirming under him, taking every opportunity to get his hands on Zoro, to control where he goes or trying to lead as well. 

In a flash Zoro understands, Sanji is freaking out right now because he can’t control this situation with his father, he can’t control the press and he can’t control… well… anything really. And Sanji evidently doesn’t do well with being completely helpless. Zoro on the other hand gets that, he gets how it’s uncomfortable but well…. He’s dealt with it his whole life. It’s only recently that he’s had much control at all, Luffy and Ace had been a bit of a blip in his otherwise rigidly enforced life, and even his time with them was dictated by how far Chopper could explain his absence away. So he understands that Sanji is scrambling for control over anything right now. He could surrender his, he doesn’t mind. He questions whether he trusts Sanji enough and almost immediately concludes that he does. 

He smiles against Sanji’s skin, bites a mark into his hip and rolls back over, pulling the blonde on top of him. Sanji seems instantly happier, though it’s probably subconscious. The cook plasters himself to him, trapping one of Zoro’s arms beneath his and tangling his hand in the mess of Zoro’s hair, using the leverage to kiss him deeply. Zoro reminds himself that this is Sanji and relaxes. It feels nice kinda, letting someone else set the pace and just responding. 

With Ace it had always been a desperate struggle for control, he always had to be on top as well as… well… topping. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ace, he did, but being under someone else made him almost claustrophobic. Maybe it’s just because he’s been in enough situations where Sanji could have exploited his power and hasn’t that Zoro is okay with this. 

Still, it’s not like he’s just laying there. Instead he’s discovering things about Sanji’s boxers, namely that they’re soft and they don’t cover an awful lot of the cook. He’s also discovering that if he slides his hands down the cook’s back it’s incredibly easy to slip into said boxers and get himself two nice handfuls of the blonde’s perfect ass. Sanji seems to be pretty busy with his own exploration although his hand hesitates just at the waistband of Zoro’s pyjamas. Even in the dark under the covers Zoro’s eyes have adjusted enough to catch the cook’s hesitant look. 

“Can I-?” He begins anxiously. 

“Anything.” Zoro breathes and bites Sanji’s neck.

“What, really? Are you sure about this Zoro?” Sanji questions in surprise. 

“Yes, now come on.” He urges, groping the blonde a little more. 

“But- anything?” Sanji presses.

Zoro growls in frustration and flops back onto the mattress. 

“Listen cook, either you fuck me, or I’ll fuck you if you prefer- I really don’t mind, or you get out of bed and read the goddamn papers.” He snaps irritably. 

Zoro can only conclude that either Sanji really wants him naked or really doesn’t want to read the papers, perhaps both, because almost immediately after the words have left Zoro’s lips Sanji is shimmying out of his own boxers and pulling Zoro’s pyjamas completely away. Sanji lines their dicks up against each other and rolls his hips, pulling a happy moan from both of them. 

Sanji settles between Zoro’s legs for a moment before suddenly cursing and sliding back up. Sanji breaks them free of the covers and the cooler air makes Zoro’s skin tingle pleasantly. The other man scrambles desperately towards his bedside table and starts frantically rummaging in it, for lube, Zoro would guess. In the dull half light of Sanji’s room the blonde’s pale skin seems to almost glow. He leans over and kisses the smooth skin between Sanji’s shoulder blades, earning him a surprised squeak from the apparently now blushing blonde. Sanji finds the bottle he was after and eagerly pulls himself into Zoro’s lap and kisses him thoroughly. 

Sanji seems antsy and Zoro starts to think that Sanji might be unsure about all of this, especially when Sanji pulls back with a frustrated huff of breath. 

“I can’t- I just-” Sanji whines shaking his head, the bottle held aloft in one hand.

“What?” Zoro asks with a worried frown. Hadn’t Sanji been the one to start this? To say everything in the first place yesterday? Surely he wasn’t going to change his mind?

“I just want to do everything all at once and it’s just not possible! I want it all!” Sanji exclaims, waving his arms dramatically and making Zoro explode into laughter. 

“Well, you can’t. So pick something and go, then next time pick something else!” he laughs. Sanji seems to accept that answer and lightly shoves Zoro back and slides down between his legs. Cautiously and then more confidently Sanji wraps his mouth around Zoro’s dick. Zoro shudders happily and ignores the unusual feeling as Sanji’s slick fingers gently work their way into him, very quickly though Sanji crooks his long fingers in the same way that Zoro used to do that drove Ace wild. As stars explode behind Zoro’s lids he suddenly understands why Ace made all that fuss, Sanji’s throaty laugh vibrates through him and makes Zoro start to worry that he’s not even going to last until Sanji actually gets around to screwing him!

Half of him wants Sanji to hurry up already, even though the other half of him is enjoying every moment of it. Sanji is taking his time though, long enough for Zoro to get so used to his fingers that when Sanji withdraws them he nearly kicks him in revenge. He knows that what he’s about to get is even better though and when Sanji slides home he has to bite his lip hard fist his hands in the bed sheets on either side of his head to stop himself from screaming “yes!” at the top of his lungs and alerting everyone within about ten miles of just how good he feels. 

“Z-Zoro? You okay?” Sanji asks from above him in a panicked tone. Zoro manages to open one eye, Sanji’s face is terrified- ah, he thinks he’s hurt him. Biting his lip harder to keep silent he manages to nod desperately and, for added emphasis he hooks his heel around Sanji’s hip and jerks the cook closer and further into him. His head falls back and a pleasured shudder wracks his body, it’s great but it’s nowhere near enough.

“Oh god, Zoro we really don’t have to do this if you don’t-” Sanji starts again, clearly not getting the message because he has brain damage or he will have brain damage in a minute if he doesn’t fucking move because Zoro might just kick his head in! He fists a hand in the cook’s golden hair and hauls him forward, wrapping one arm around the back of his neck.

“Sanji if you don’t fuckingmoverightnow I am LITERALLY going to die so-ohhhh oh oh, do that again!” He hisses in Sanji’s ear as Sanji tilts his hips slightly for balance. The blonde pulls back with a look hedonistic glee taking over the previously surprised and worried expression.

“Well okay then.” Sanji purrs. Zoro wants to kill him, he really does. Well, at least until the dumb curly-brow snaps his hips forward and starts to fuck his brains completely out. He’s trying to keep up with Sanji, he really is, but it’s all too good for him to keep up the rhythm that Sanji is working at so in the end he just settles for holding onto Sanji, the bed frame, the sheets- anything he can get a hold of really, and trying not to fall apart too quickly. He’s trying to keep at least vaguely quiet, aware as he is of Usopp and Franky just downstairs, but Sanji seems to be doing his best to draw as much noise from him as possible.

Sanji is whispering stupid things to him, like how he’s beautiful like this (Zoro wouldn’t know), how good Sanji wants to make him feel (Zoro’s really not sure that it’s possible to feel better than this, but okay) and how perfect he is (Zoro isn’t going to complain). Zoro is really trying to keep quiet, but Sanji is making that nearly impossible. So when Sanji leans down and moans into his ear about how he wants to see him come well… Zoro isn’t one to turn Sanji down. The blonde probably didn’t need Zoro yelling that many expletives in his ear intermixed with his name but, well, he got what he asked for. Sanji just gasps out Zoro’s name and bites hard into Zoro’s skin before he loses all rhythm and comes as well. 

Zoro isn’t sure if they fell asleep and cuddled or whether they’re just this tangled up from sex but he’s still feeling pretty happy when he wakes up. He decides to shower alone before the impatient blonde wakes up and gets other ideas. He’s a little sore, but it’s the good kind of sore, like the kind after a good workout. When he wipes the mirror free of steam after his quick shower he scowls at the bite still visible from his crooked-toothed assailant the night before last but on the opposite side of his chest, just on his collar bone, is a perfectly straight toothed mirror to it courtesy of Sanji. Zoro grins and traces the outlines of it hoping that it bruises and stays for ages. 

He returns to Sanji’s bedroom and throws the cook in the bathroom as well, quickly informing him that, no, he won’t be joining him because they have stuff to do today and they actually need to leave Sanji’s room at some point. Sanji does return soon enough, Zoro suspects that he’s trying to sulk but is still too high on sex to do so properly. 

“So, do you want the good ones or the bad one first?” He asks Sanji, holding the newspapers and magazines in his hand. 

“Get the worst over with.” Sanji groans, falling down on the bed bonelessly. 

“Unless you want to just have sex again?” Sanji asks hopefully, Zoro ignores him. 

Zoro separates out the newspaper that he’d found. It’s the Mail, an especially conservative newspaper that generally hates everyone that isn’t a rich white man, it’s also not too sure about people who aren’t straight either. He slides next to Sanji on the bed and passes it over. The front page of the newspaper shows him pressing Sanji against the railing with Sanji looking utterly helpless, his own expression looks a lot more predatory than he remembers being. The headline screams “Prince caught in submissive sex scandal!”

The body of the so called article reads as follows:

“Sir Sanji Prince, supposedly the height of high society and heir to the Royal Corporation that runs the Royal Institute was caught being scandalously submissive to his own property! They say that when you have too much money the things that you own start to own you, never more true has this been than in this case! The heir, as shown above, clearly has no control over his own mate who is clearly having his wicked way with him whether the Prince wishes him to or not. Is this the right sort of image for the future leader of such a well established institution like the Royal Institute to be behaving? We think not. Lord Prince could not be reached for comment at this time, clearly his son’s actions have shamed him and the rest of the family. We would-”

Sanji hurls the paper across the room with a snarl before Zoro can read any further. Zoro rolls his eyes and hands Sanji “hey” magazine. This one is written in a much more friendly style.

“Sir Prince was caught in a steamy tryst with his mate yesterday morning on the romantic tropical beach setting of his family’s luxury private island. At first his mate was tied up, and clearly not pleased with being left like that all night! Soon though the gorgeous Sanji was able to woo his love back, and who can blame him! The two make such an attractive pair and it’s so sweet to see young love blossoming so quickly between the star struck pair!” 

The other magazines continue in much the same fashion, cooing over their passion or their looks, one even went so far as to remark that it’s a shame that they’re both male as surely their imaginary babies would be beautiful (that one makes Zoro cringe more than a little). A few of the more intellectual papers point out that this kind of give and take in a relationship suggests that Sir Prince practices what he preaches about mates being people with their own needs and desires. That paper even managed to get an interview from Ivankov who stated that he and Sanji are always affectionate and loving towards each other, especially when they think no one’s watching. Ivankov even says that he hopes others will see their example of a real relationship and realise that most mates are not treated anywhere near as well. 

“So, what now?” Zoro asks, looking across the bed at Sanji as the sprawled out blonde drops the final paper to the floor.

“I don’t know.” Sanji breathes in a sigh and turns on his side, he brings his hand up and rests it over Zoro’s heart. 

“The media are probably trying to reach you for interviews or whatever, you should probably do that.” He points out. 

“Yeah.” Sanji agrees listlessly, a small frown furrowing in his brow. 

“Stop worrying, you’ll be fine.” He smiles back reassuringly. 

“I guess, I’ve just got this awful feeling that something terrible is happening and we’re just not aware of it yet.” Sanji says as he stares straight up at the ceiling.

“You’re being paranoid.” He accuses and pushes himself up onto his hands and knees so that Sanji is looking up at him instead of the ceiling. 

“And anyway,” he says leaning down to kiss the blonde’s neck, “if you’ve still got room in your head to worry about that then I’m clearly not doing my job properly.” He grins and kisses Sanji’s neck.

The blonde jolts underneath him and sucks in a sharp hiss of breath as if Zoro had just punched him. Zoro pulls back and stares down at the horrified looking blonde. 

His mind replays the last thing he said. “Doing my job properly.”

“Oh, no, no Sanji that’s not what I meant!” He exclaims hurriedly. Sanji squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head.

“I know, don’t… it’s fine, I know that’s not what you meant, and I know it’s not a job to you. Don’t apologise.” Sanji says, stroking his fingers through Zoro’s hair and encouraging the panic to seep back out of Zoro’s system. 

The blonde opens his eyes again, his expression is sad and his gaze is fixed on Zoro’s collar.

“I feel like this thing is always going to be between us.” Sanji says mournfully as he gingerly touches the golden padlock hanging at Zoro’s throat. 

“It’s nothing, I have you.” Zoro answers fiercely as he bats Sanji’s hand away and pulls the blonde into a kiss. Sanji looks at least a little happier after that, enough so that Zoro is content to let him get dressed and head downstairs to see what kind of phone calls he’s been getting. Zoro takes some time getting dressed himself and by the time he gets downstairs Sanji informs him that they’ve got a television interview and they need to change again into something camera-ready and go now.

Zoro finds himself back inside his wardrobe trying to work out what “camera-ready” means and what he has that fits that. Thankfully Usopp comes along to help and picks him out a jacket and some apparently designer trousers. Zoro is flicking through the t-shirts when he spots one with a particularly wide neck, curiously he puts it on and sees that it only barely covers the mark that Sanji left on his chest and if he even stretches a little it becomes obvious, the white fabric a start contrast to the now bruising mark. He’s not a manipulative person at heart but he has spent a large proportion of his life being taught how to manipulate people in order to stay alive, doing it on camera is no different. Half of the battle is looking the part. He throws the shirt on and the other things that Usopp helped him pick and follows Sanji hurriedly down to the car. 

Franky drives them there whilst Sanji explains about the show, apparently it’s some celebrity news show that’s apparently avidly followed by everyone or so Sanji insists. Zoro’s never heard of it but he’s never really watched much TV and never watched talk shows at all, except for that one time when Luffy’s remote went missing and even then he and the rubber boy ended up wrestling out of boredom. 

When they show up the TV set is buzzing with staff and crew and he and Sanji are instantly dragged off and dusted with makeup which will apparently stop them looking all pale and zombified in front of the TV cameras. 

The TV host is a skinny, sultry looking lady with a blue afro called Miss Doublefinger, the show's logo is... as you would expect, two fingers to convention as it were. She announces them to prompted applause from her studio audience and beckons them onto the stage and the big blue sofa opposite her imposing chair. The lights are bright as they walk on so he can hardly make out anyone in the audience, it’s a little unnerving. He follows Sanji onto the stage and sits close to him on the sofa, curling his legs under him as if he was on Sanji's own sofa. He's nowhere near as relaxed and happy as he looks but he won't convince anyone by looking stiff and tense, anyway if he couldn't look appealing and relaxed when he was panicking inside then all his years of training as a mate would really have been wasted.

"So, Zoro," Miss Doublefinger says to him with a smile once the applause dies down.

"You're pretty much the most hated guy in the country this morning, teasing us and then taking this beautiful blonde inside and keeping him all for yourself!" She smirks at him, the audience laughs along and a few whistle and sigh dreamily.

"I would say sorry but I'm pretty selfish I guess." he answers back smartly with a grin, making Miss Doublefinger, and her audience, laugh.

"Sanji, is Zoro really as good of a lover as he seems to be then?" she asks with a catlike smile.

"I- I can't really say about that, that's pretty personal." Sanji says reddening slightly. Zoro would smack his forehead if he could, or better yet Sanji's! You don't just go on TV then say it's too personal!

"Well, you looked like you were enjoying yourself just fine! Actually can we get a picture of that?" She calls out and instantly a blown up high definition of Sanji's flushed face mid moan with him kissing Sanji's neck fills the screen, the audience cheers of “oohs” over it.

"Oh god!" Sanji squeaks, turning scarlet.

"I bet that's what you said." Miss Doublefinger laughs. Zoro takes in Sanji's embarrassed expression, he can't do this, he can't play to the cameras. He's just going to blush and tell her it's personal again! If he wants to save this interview and turn it in their favour, which they have to, then he’s going to have to do something.

"Yeah, that's more or less what he said." Zoro answers before Sanji can speak again. Miss Doublefinger smiles, looking at Zoro, her smile says that she recognizes that he knows how this game goes. Zoro is cautious though, Miss Doublefinger wants an exciting show and a story but that doesn’t mean that she’s interested in getting their message out, disgracing them on TV would be just as sensational, he needs to show her that it’s worth playing to their angle.

"So, how does this master/mate relationship work between you two? You looked pretty in control there Zoro, do you swap the collar over?" She challenges him, her eyes sharp and predatory.

"Well this thing doesn't come off at all, so no." Zoro says, tugging on the collar at his throat for emphasis, that draws a few laughs.

"It's not about control anyway." Sanji says suddenly, surprising Zoro and Miss Doublefinger both.

"It's about trust and respect, something I think a lot of master/mate relationships are missing. Not that we have that kind of relationship, there's no power dynamic it's just... a relationship." Sanji elaborates with a gentle smile at Zoro, Zoro grins back. Several of the audience go "aww" at them.

"That's so sweet, how long did it take you two to warm up to each other?" She asks.

"A little while, but it became pretty obvious after a few days or so just how good a man Sanji is. It was a little hard to believe at first, I thought that good guy thing was just an act- but it’s really him." Zoro answers honestly, he relaxes a little as Miss Doublefinger’s expression turns interested.

"Well I knew more or less right away." Sanji chips in smugly drawing teasing “ooohs” from the audience.

"Oh, so you had to woo him around then? Lucky guy, I’m sure plenty of us would have loved to be in that position!" She says flicking a look at Zoro, the audience cheers.

"More like incompetently confess my feelings, I thought that he was gonna turn me down." Sanji confesses awkwardly shifting on the sofa, he doesn't mention that he did that YESTERDAY, but that's for the best.

"Oh aren't they just adorable folks?" She says to the audience who all cheer in agreement.

"So, Zoro, is Sanji what you imagined when you signed up to be a mate?" Miss Doublefinger asks. 

Zoro's back stiffens at the question, a part of him wonders if she knows the answer and is just baiting him into an interesting topic or if she's really ignorant. His gaze snaps to Sanji, it's his call about whether or not he answers honestly, the blonde's look of gentle agreement unsticks his tongue and makes him speak.

"No." he answers simply, he doesn’t miss the way Doublefinger’s eyes widen in interest.

"Oh, he's better than you dreamed then?" She asks with a sly smile.

"I wasn't dreaming of this at all, all I was thinking about was getting the money to save my best friend's life. That's what the institute rep said would happen, he told me that if I signed up he’d pay the bills to save her life, she died before I even signed- and he knew it, but he got me to sign anyway. Then I got dragged away from everyone I’d ever loved and thrown in the institute and never allowed out." Zoro says darkly, trying to convey all of the hatred he has for the institute. The audience is silent as the grave, a stunned silence Zoro hopes.

"You mean you were tricked?" Miss Doublefinger asks raising an eyebrow and gasps from the audience.

"Most of us were, or threatened. I hate to break it to you but no mate signs up dreaming of life with some rich heir or heiress. Some people did it so they wouldn’t starve, my sort-of-sister did it to save her family, some families just sell their kids because they’re just too poor. Don’t believe the adverts." he says brutally. He wonders how many mates are watching this and he wonders what they're thinking. Probably that he's signing his own death warrant, he's not sure they're wrong.

"And... well, most mates don't get treated anywhere near as well as I do." he adds looking over at Sanji and thinking about the multitude of kind things that Sanji has done for him since they met.

"Quit looking at me like I'm doing you a favour, you're a person, not some toy. I don't care what the law says about it." Sanji insists gently, Zoro doesn't have to fake his look of adoration for Sanji then, not at all. He leans into Sanji's side and let's his eyes flutter closed for a moment, he is incredibly lucky to have ended up with Sanji.

"So everything that those investigative journalists are saying is true then?" Miss Doublefinger presses.

"And then some." Sanji agrees. Zoro keeps his head on Sanji's shoulder. That ominous feeling that Sanji kept complaining of is starting to bother him now too.

"But you're part of that company, how does that sit with you?" She asks with a raised blue eyebrow.

"Badly." Sanji says flatly. "But I'm trying to change things from the inside, I figure maybe other people are as oblivious about it as I was, or maybe like me they were too scared to say something and thought no one else agreed. I'm hoping that by talking about it other people will help me change things." Sanji says eloquently.

Zoro is... overwhelmed with affection for Sanji then, his kind Sanji. He loves him, he really does. He’s tempted to say so but he doesn’t want the first time that he says it to be cast under suspicion from the TV cameras, he doesn’t want Sanji to misinterpret him, so he stays quiet and just smiles instead.

"Well, that's a lot to think about! We hope that you manage to make it so that everyone is as happy as you two." she smiles. The interview starts wrapping up then and pretty soon they're around the back of the set alone together, off camera and out from under the hot spotlights.

"Well, I guess we'll see how that goes down." Sanji says a little glumly, his expression distant.

"Nothing else to do." Zoro agrees.

"If it's ok with you I think I want to go to the Baratie now, I'm not sure that I want to leave Zeff alone after that." Sanji says worriedly, his brow creasing in worry. Zoro nods in agreement, Zeff's safety was Spandam's big bargaining chip after all, he is the one person Sanji could be hurt through, it'd be mad to leave him alone.

"Let me just... Where did I put my coat?" Sanji frowns absently patting his pockets, as if it might be in there.

"Strip off in someone's wardrobe and forget about it again?" he teases, remembering his first night with Sanji. His feelings towards the blonde are so different now to how they were then.

"Smartass. I think it was in the dressing room." Sanji says back and flips him off with a grin as he goes off to look.

Zoro leans back against the studio wall and sighs, he hopes that Zeff is okay but still... it's hard to shake that unsettled feeling. His ears prick up at the sound of a familiar voice, he strains his ears, it’s Robin. He follows his ears and spies Robin and Miss Doublefinger talking about the interview, the TV host is thanking Robin with a sly smile for the tip on the story. Robin knows her… of course she does. Evidently it was her that help set up this interview. Just how many people are in Robin’s shady network?

Zoro frowns and slinks back towards where he and Sanji parted. Robin is trying to help them, or rather, she’s trying to destroy Spandam and helping them is the most efficient way to do that. Still, he’s glad that she’s on their side and not against them, it’s a scary thought. 

When he arrives back Sanji and his coat are waiting for him.

“How did you get lost standing still?” Sanji asks incredulously. Zoro opens his mouth, he wants to say about Robin but then he stops. No sound comes out of his mouth as he remembers how lonely Sanji felt when he discovered just how much Robin was deceiving them. He knows that it’s how the world works and that Robin really isn’t a bad person. But Sanji is so naïve and trusting, finding out hurt him so badly. He knows that Sanji and Robin are starting to build their bridges back up, the last thing that he wants to do is tear them down again. 

“You moved, not me.” He lies instead. 

“You’re hopeless.” Sanji tuts and pulls him from the studio building.

They walk to the Baratie together, it’s not all that far and the fresh air is nice. Zoro spots a few photographers along the way but he pretends not to notice them, if Sanji notices then he’s doing the same but Zoro can’t tell. They talk about how the interview went, bicker about whether or not Miss Doublefinger is a good person and both try to wipe the make up off of their faces. All in all it’s pretty pleasant. 

Surprisingly Sanji doesn’t have any messages on his phone from anyone in his family, except for Perona who’s message simply reads “ZOMG! I JUST SAW U ON TV!!!!!!1”, not exactly enlightening or angry. There are a few supportive texts and voicemails from Robin, Usopp, Brook and even Hina. It’s strangely quiet on the Prince front though, suspiciously so.

They arrive at the Baratie in less than half an hour, but as soon as its sign comes into view Zoro can simply feel the tension radiating off of Sanji. It’s as if he’s tensing to prepare for a horrible blow, but when they get inside the kitchen is the same as it ever was, which is to say that it’s full of swearing, shouting chefs and Zeff snapping out orders and commands. Sanji relaxes next to him. The steam of the kitchen warms Zoro’s cheeks and a million smells of spices and cooking touch his senses, he understands how this place feels so much like home to Sanji. Everything is okay.

Sanji falls into the rhythm of the place instantly, stepping in and cooking, shouting at his fellow chefs. Zoro pauses on the sidelines and imagines what a fifteen year old Sanji must have been like in here, free and untroubled by his real father, in a warm bustling building full of people who (begrudgingly at times) loved him. It makes Zoro’s heart ache a little and he wishes that Sanji could have that back. Still, at least he can visit, it’s better than nothing. 

He starts helping out too, hefting things around and cleaning. Soon he runs out of that and Zeff orders him to go out into the front and wait tables, Zoro can do that. He comes through the door a few hours later, needing to get an order off of Sanji. The blonde smirks at him and hands it over with a kiss, the sudden boomingly loud laugh from Zeff makes Zoro jump so hard that he nearly drops the food, which makes Sanji laugh. Zoro flips the pair of them off and gets back to work, he ignores the way that Zeff grins and slaps the clearly embarrassed cook on the shoulder. He guesses that Zeff probably gets a kick out of embarrassing his semi adopted son. 

He backs through the door carrying the plate for the lady sitting at the table that ordered the dish. Later, when she’s finished the dish she flags him down, Zoro assumes it’s to collect the money for her bill and is mentally running up everything that she had to eat in his head as he approaches her, just so he can make sure the amount tallies. He picks up the dish and a quick rush of mental arithmetic confirms that she’s paid, plus a generous tip, he opens his mouth to thank her but she speaks first. 

“Could I pass my compliments onto the chef? It was divine.” She smiles up at him smooth as silk, her blonde hair falling across her shoulders.

“I’ll do that for you.” He nods, dreading to think of how huge Sanji’s ego would get if he was here in person hearing his from a pretty lady. 

“I wondered if I might do it myself? I take it this was Sanji Prince’s work yes? He’s supposed to be the best here.” She says with a small smile and a look that has a hint of predator to it and starts setting alarm bells off in Zoro’s head. 

“Are you a journalist or something?” He asks her suspiciously as he puts the money into the front pocket of the waiter’s apron that Zeff had thrown at his head as soon as he started waiting. 

“No, but you’re his mate and you’re here, it doesn’t take an investigative journalist to work out that he must be. Don’t worry, I don’t work for the press, I just want to pay him a compliment is all.” She explains with a cheeky smile. 

Zoro hesitates, he wants to tell her to get lost but he doesn’t know if she’ll actually leave if he does. He tells her to stay where she is and ducks back to the kitchen to find Sanji. He beckons the blonde over to the door to ask him what to do.

“Sir Prince?” The woman says suddenly from behind him, Zoro jumps, she’d followed him! But Sanji is already there and looking at the woman with some surprise in his eyes. 

“Yes?” Sanji asks, blinking in surprise at the stranger appearing unexpectedly at the kitchen doors. Zoro shoots a hard look at her, it must look like he deliberately brought her to him, that sneaky woman! 

“First of all I’d just love to compliment you on your food, the duck was absolutely superb. Genuinely the best I’ve ever eaten.” She purrs, causing Sanji to flutter and wiggle in glee at such a pretty woman complimenting him. Zoro instantly hates her and tries to resist the temptation to kick her and shout at Sanji, he’s never really be jealous before- it’s a new feeling and he’s not sure that he likes it at all.

“Secondly, you’ve been served. I hope I haven’t spoilt your evening, goodnight.” She says primly, handing Sanji an envelope from her breast pocket and neatly turning and leaving the building. 

“Served what?” Zoro frowns in confusion as Sanji gawps at the letter in his hand. 

“I’m… being sued.” Sanji stammers as he reads the letter. 

“Sued? By who, for what?” Zoro frowns, not being able think who could possibly have enough against Sanji to sue him. It’s not like Sanji ever did anything illegal anyway. Sanji scowls and shoves the letter angrily into his pocket. 

“By my father, for fraud and corporate espionage.” Sanji growls angrily, his fists shaking with rage. 

 

It turns out that Igaram is a lawyer, and apparently a good one too, which is lucky for Sanji as suddenly all of his family's lawyers are refusing to represent him.

The court date that they're summoned to in the morning is actually a hearing to see if the case against Sanji for his mysterious fraud and espionage would be heard or if it would be thrown out. Sanji and he had come to the conclusion the night before at the Baratie that the espionage would probably be to do with the photos and the TV interview, but the fraud charge had them all puzzled.

Zoro is surprised that he's allowed in the actual court room at all, he isn't allowed to sit with Sanji of course, but he's allowed to sit in the gallery behind him as long as he keeps completely silent. Apparently him trying to talk is regarded by this judge in particular as inappropriate as someone letting their phone ring in court. It's not too bad though, he's sat next to Vivi right behind Sanji and Igaram, pretty front row seats, all things considered. The room is big and wooden and feels more like a church than it does a courtroom, the judge sits in a high up box, regarding them all with an air of distain from behind her glasses.

Warily Zoro looks across at Spandam who sits on the other half of the courtroom, he’s in a fancy suit and he’s acting very… formal. It’s very unlike the self-important Spandam that he’s got to know and loathe. He supposes that the lord is trying to impress the judge somewhat. His lawyer happens to be one Rob Lucci, according to Sanji, his father’s ruthless lawyer and number one lackey. He was one of the people there at his and Sanji’s ceremony, the man who discovered that his clothes had mysteriously changed thanks to Robin when he’d been left unsupervised by them. He gives off a real sinister aura.

The judge presiding over the court is a hard faced older woman with a fading blue rinse and she looks at everyone in the courtroom as if they had personally run over her dog or something. Zoro's uneasy feeling has worsened to a kind of all permeating nausea, whilst Sanji who has been convinced by Igaram that the case will be out in less than ten minutes seems visibly relaxed.

"It's a good sign really, it shows how desperate we've made him." Sanji says quietly to him as they sit down. The blonde is trying to be reassuring but Zoro remembers that the last time when he was truly desperate, when he had been defending Nami from Mihawk, he didn't care if he died as long as he took Mihawk out first. He isn't sure that Spandam being desperate is a good thing at all.

"Quiet down, this hearing is now in session." the judge says, banging her gavel and quieting everyone in the room. Sanji flashes him a bright smile that fails to kill the anxious wriggling things in Zoro's stomach.

"Plaintiff to put forward their case." the judge says, looking over her glasses at Spandam.

"The first charge is of fraud, specifically of the confidence trick variety. We can prove that the defendant has knowingly defrauded my client." Lucci says smoothly.

"Proceed." the judge nods.

"Lord Spandam's son Sanji Prince died nine years ago in a shipwreck with his mother, this man here is not Sanji Prince but someone who deliberately claimed to be Lord Prince's missing son many years after the fact." Lucci says with some flair of drama in his eyes.

"What?!" Sanji squawks in disbelief, Igaram shoots him a sharp look in warning. Zoro’s eyes widen, that’s right out of left field, he hadn’t expected that at all!

"Do you have something to say on this matter Sir Prince?" the judge asks with an intense look in her eyes, her expression conveying just how little she approves of Sanji interrupting. Sanji glances at Igaram who nods, giving him permission to speak again.

"I'm sorry for interrupting but this is ridiculous, I'm his son, as much as I wish I wasn't." Sanji mutters that last bit with some venom. Zoro cringes, Sanji needs to learn to shut up!

"You would say that your relationship with your father is poor?" the judge asks him with a raised eyebrow from her high up perch in her box.

"Yes." Sanji answers with a shrug.

"He's still my father though, you don't get to pick your family." Sanji points out reasonably.

"And were you in a shipwreck as the plaintiff asserts?" the judge continues, almost conversationally.

"I was." Sanji nods.

"How did you survive?" she asks. The hairs on Zoro's neck start standing up on end, this feels wrong. He shoots a look at Vivi and sees her wearing a similar look of unease, everyone else - including Igaram looks perfectly relaxed though.

"I was rescued." Sanji answers with a frown, he doesn't like talking about it, Zoro knows that.

"And where were you for the intervening..." the judge trails off waving an expectant hand as she looks at Spandam and his lawyer.

"Six years.” Lucci fills in instantly.

“Six years?” The judge finishes, glancing back at Sanji dubiously. Zoro’s fingers tighten on the wooden pew-like court bench that he’s sitting on. He really doesn’t like the sound of this… not at all. Was this supposed to be such a grilling, and from a judge no less?

“I was with the man who rescued me.” Sanji answers, his tone suggesting that he too is starting to realise that something is amiss.

“That was… a Mr. Zeff Red, correct? The owner of a restaurant in this city?” She says, flicking through the notes in a file on her desk. 

“Yeah, the Baratie. I worked there with him. I don’t really see what this has to do with fraud, I’m still Spandam’s son.” He says leaning forward in his chair as he looks up at the old lady judge.

“You intend to tell me that as a child you nearly died, lost one parent in a tragic accident, miraculously survived thanks to a complete stranger, only to return to the same city that you were from and within that time until you turned sixteen you never once tried to contact your only surviving parent? That seems more than a little implausible. The claim is accepted, you can argue that in court if you’re so certain, or so stupid, Sir Prince.” The judge declares, banging her gavel.

“Hey!” Sanji exclaims, rising out of his chair indignantly. Igaram instantly grabs him and forces him back into it before the judge spots him. The judge looks to Lucci and Spandam again expectantly.

“The second charge is related to the first. This imposter’s mission was to defraud my client as much as possible, taking as much of his money as he could through the form of stocks, shares and expensive gifts. We believe that recently this imposter has received offers from outside parties to bring down my client’s company from the inside.” Lucci declares. 

Sanji stands up so suddenly and sharply that his chair topples behind him loudly. 

“That’s ridiculous! I’ve never wanted a damn thing that you’ve given me and I was happiest without your money and without you! You were the one who made me come back!” Sanji snarls, slamming his palms on the table. 

“Liar, you’d throw a hissy fit if even one thing that I bought you got taken away.” Spandam says coolly, his lips curling into a sick grin. 

A shock of terror shoots up Zoro’s spine as he sees where this is going, he looks up at Sanji but the blonde is too hot headed, too enraged to see! 

“Sanji!” He hisses urgently. 

“Enough shouting in my court, and control your mate, I won’t have them speaking in my courtroom!” The judge snaps, pointing her gavel menacingly at Zoro. Sanji makes a shushing gesture at Zoro with his hand, without taking his eyes off of his father, Zoro shuts his mouth. 

Spandam looks like a horribly disfigured cat with the cream, this couldn’t be going better for him. He looks over at Vivi in a panic, he has to do something but what? She looks equally helpless and tries to subtly kick Igaram to get his attention but this too only earns them a dismissive wage from Igaram and a fierce glare from the judge. 

“I don’t want a damn thing of yours!” Sanji argues vehemently. 

“Please, all you do is take the things that I buy you. You wouldn’t give up the things that I bought you for anything, that’s how we know you’re a con-artist and a fraudster.” Spandam says bitingly. Zoro catches the sick man’s gaze as it flicks for a split second to him. 

“FINE! Would that help?” Sanji demands, looking up at the judge.

“Giving up the things you’re supposedly conning your father out of would certainly weaken their case, yes.” The judge remarks, raising her eyebrows.

“Sanji!” Zoro hisses urgently, Sanji waves him away.

“Like you would.” Spandam laughs, with an air of uncertainty in his tone. Zoro can hear it’s fake though, oh god. Zoro’s hands tighten on the wooden bench, he feels like he’s in one of those old west movies, tied to a train track and watching a freight train hurtle towards him. 

“Oh, you don’t think I would? Fine. Have it all back, the house, the stocks and shares that you’ve given me, everything. I never wanted any of it, or you!” Sanji declares. Zoro’s jaw hangs open. 

The judge stares at them in silence for a second before banging her gavel.

“Agreed, the defence will surrender all items and assets gifted to him or belonging to Lord Spandam.” She declares finally. 

Zoro feels like he’s going to throw up, he whines and leans forward, resting his head in his hands. Vivi’s gentle touch rests on his shoulder. He hears Lord Spandam’s sick laugh, it has an edge of mocking mania to it, and why wouldn’t it? He’s won. 

“What’s so funny?” Sanji demands angrily.

“You idiot.” Zoro says weakly, barely able to believe that this is happening at all. He looks up to see Sanji looking at him in irritated confusion, Spandam looks deliriously happy, Lucci looks smug. 

“You didn’t buy him, I did. That’s also how I know you’re not my son, no child of mine would be so stupid.” Spandam laughs from across the room. 

Sanji’s skin pales instantly, now he gets it. Zoro glares at him, he’s a fucking idiot, that’s what he is. How could he fall for such an obvious trap and why on earth didn’t Igaram see it either?!

“Just win this, okay? And do it quickly.” He says quietly as he looks up into Sanji’s horrified expression.

“Wait- no, you can’t- Zoro doesn’t count! He’s not a thing, he’s a person!” Sanji exclaims, spinning on his heel to face the judge. 

“No he’s not. And I’ve had enough of this, get that out of my court- bailiff!” She judge orders and Zoro sees and hears several heavy booted men make their way towards him from around the room. He should probably be panicking, thinking of a way out. Like that bailiff walking towards him now, he could punch him in the throat, leap the next one, dodge and then- but no. They’d shock him, shoot him or anything else. And if he manages to escape they can track him, they will find him, they’ll hunt him down. There’s… there’s no point in fighting, he’s powerless. 

“No! Please! Anything but Zoro, he’s not- please!” Sanji begs, throwing himself to his knees, but the judge is having none of it.

Zoro eyes the closest bailiff and turns his gaze to the furious looking Vivi.

“Please keep an eye on Sanji, stop him from doing anything dumb- or… dumber than this at least. Nami’s alive, she’s with Robin.” Zoro hisses urgently in her ear. The surprise registers on her face but she quickly disguises it, clever girl.

“I’ll do what I can.” Vivi nods. Slowly her elegant hand rises up and touches the ring on her collar as her sad eyes meet his. A gesture of respect for the doomed.

Zoro’s skin crawls as thick fingers wrap around and under the back of his collar and haul him bodily off of the bench by it like a goddamn animal. He pulls against gravity and gasps in pain as the hard metal and plastic collar cuts sharply into his trachea. The bailiff drops him on the floor and subtly takes the opportunity to kick him as he bends down to grab Zoro roughly under the arm from where he lies coughing on the floor and haul him to his feet with the aid of another. He offers no resistance and starts to walk with them, what good would resisting do anyway?

“Zoro! No!” Sanji yelps.

Zoro looks up to see the blonde sprinting for him but another bailiff steps in the way and tries to stop him. Sanji’s face contorts into a picture of fury as Zoro is pulled ever further away. Sanji spins in a graceful arc and kicks the bailiff clean across the room, to gasps from the room. The other bailiffs draw weapons and advance menacingly on him, all the while Spandam is watching like a kid on Christmas morning. 

“Sanji, don’t!” Zoro urges, he doesn’t want the blonde getting hurt, not for him! There’s nothing that Sanji can do anyway! 

“I’m not letting them take you!” Sanji yells, grabbing his hand and pulling. The bailiffs grab Zoro around the middle and pull back, he feels like he’s going to rip. Sanji’s eyes are desperate as he tries to pull Zoro away. A bailiff grabs Sanji and tries to pull him apart from Zoro but the blonde is not letting go. 

Against his better judgement Zoro grabs Sanji’s wrist back tighter and shakes from the inside out- as if an earthquake is ripping through his heart, he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t want to be apart from Sanji. As he stares desperately into Sanji’s eyes he feels overcome by the terrible premonition that this may be the last that he sees of him, that Sanji might lose this court case and never get him back. 

Sanji is screaming and shouting, kicking at the bailiffs and Zoro is doing the same, never taking his eyes off of Sanji. The whole court is in uproar, the judge is screaming for Sanji to be arrested, the gallery of people are all yammering excitedly and Spandam’s twisted laughter echoes through the room. The bailiffs pull Zoro outside, dragging Sanji and the other bailiffs with them.

His grip on Sanji’s wrists starts to slip and he feels the blonde’s fingers slide ever so slightly down his hands, there are three bailiffs pulling at Sanji now and a third has joined the ones pulling at Zoro.

“Please! NO!” Sanji screams, his fingernails digging into Zoro’s skin and scratching into it. Tears are streaming down the blonde’s face freely and Zoro is certain that he’s doing the same. He can’t lose Sanji, he can’t! Sanji has been so kind to him, he’s been strong when Zoro’s been weak, he’s healed parts of Zoro’s soul that he thought would never heal. He’ll never have that again, if he’s forced to be someone else’s mate they’ll never be anything like Sanji, he’d rather die!

Sanji’s fingers are tangled with his now and both of them are straining to hold on, but it’s futile, they’ll never manage to hold on. Zoro struggles, kicks one of the bailiffs in the jaw and tries to claw Sanji back. 

“I LOVE YOU!” He shouts at the top of his lungs. He shouts because it’s true and because he may never get another chance to say it, he may never see Sanji again and he can’t just leave without ever saying it. Why had he not said it before now? He supposes that he was scared, scared that saying it would ruin everything, worried that is wasn’t the right time, or fearful that Sanji would back off and say that he was interested but not that interested. He’d thought that they had all the time in the world to get around to it. He was so stupid!

Sanji kicks hard enough to knock one of the guys clean off of him and uses the momentum to lunge forward and grab Zoro’s arm hard in a grip that feels unlikely to let go. The blonde pulls close so that their faces are almost touching.

“I love you, I’ve always loved you, I’ll always-” Sanji insists desperately. Suddenly a sharp pain flashes in the back of Zoro’s head and the world goes dark, his grip on Sanji fails and the last thing that he hears before everything falls away is the agonised heart-wrenching howl of his name from Sanji.

Then there’s nothing.


	19. Chapter 19

a/n: this chapter is still un-beta’d as my lovely beta is away for the holidays, but I’ve read it through myself and it appears to be fine. Please forgive anything that I’ve missed but I thought you all might like a little Christmas present of a chapter containing ALL THE FEELS! Merry Christmas!

 

Sanji opens his eyes to the grey ceiling paint that suggests some kind of official institution, he turns his head and sees bars. Prison then. 

Zoro’s hand desperately clutching his arm as they tried to pull them apart, his golden eyes brimming over with tears until, suddenly, the bailiff pulling at him pulls out a nightstick and cracks Zoro over the back of the head with it. The light in Zoro’s eyes goes out, his grip fails and the two of them are wrenched apart. The limp, ragdoll like Zoro is pulled away from him, leaving a trail of blood drops on the floor. He screams and kicks, trying to get to Zoro, trying to rescue him until pain blooms in the back of his own head and the world goes dark.

“ZORO!” He gasps, bolting upright. His head throbs at the movement but he ignores in and leaps to his feet. He’s in a cell, bars are on all three sides and a wall behind him, but no one else is in the other cells in the long room, no one else is in the room at all. Most importantly Zoro is not there. 

“HEY! HEY!” He screams desperately, throwing himself at the bars and rattling them as hard as he can. His heart is rushing at a million miles an hour. Oh god, oh god, he needs to find Zoro before it’s too late!

“PLEASE! SOMEONE, ANYONE!” He yells at the top of his lungs, wrenching on the bars with all his strength. They creak but won’t bend or budge. 

The door at the end of the room opens and it takes Sanji a second to recognise the man’s face. Gruff expression, white hair… he was at the hospital, the one who was with the woman that accused him of burning Zoro. Smoker!

“Smoker! Let me out! Where’s Zoro? Please!” He pleads frantically, reaching through the bars towards him. Smoker sighs and slowly walks towards him. 

“He’s not here.” Smoker says with a sigh as he walks closer, he stays out of Sanji’s reach though and leans back against the wall opposite the cell.

“I can see that! Where is he, is he okay? Tell me!” Sanji begs, his heart hammering in his chest.

“You were arrested for assault, your lawyer managed to negotiate it down to a night in the cells and a hefty fine, based on your ‘emotional state’ apparently.” Smoker says in a way that doesn’t answer Sanji’s question at all. It does provide other information though. He’d been unconscious all night, it felt like… morning now so it’d nearly been a whole day! That made Zoro’s lack of presence in jail with him all the more alarming!

“So where is Zoro? The court took him, but where? Shouldn’t he be here or something?” he presses nervously. 

Smoker looks away, he seems… ashamed somehow?

“Well… legally speaking Zoro isn’t a person. I know he is, obviously, but… the law says he ‘aint.” Smoker mutters, scratching at his stubble.

“So?” He asks through gritted teeth.

“Well, if you had a pet- a dog or somethin’, and the court ordered that to be taken from you… it wouldn’t got to jail with you. It’d go to an animal shelter.” Smoker says uncomfortably. 

Sanji stares at Smoker for a while. His body feels stiff and numb and his hands are shaking on the cold metal bars. He manages to work his tongue enough to swallow but it doesn’t erase the lump in his throat.

“You mean to say,” he says shakily, “that Zoro’s been taken to… the institute?” 

It was the only place that he could think of that was the equivalent to the pound for dogs. It was the place that mates were shut up and locked up in until they found new owners.

“Yeah.” Smoker nods, looking Sanji in the eye at last. 

“Th… the Royal Institute? My father’s…?” He breathes shakily, hoping with every cell in his body, every fibre of his being and every reach of his soul that Smoker will say no.

“Yes.” Smoker says instead. 

Sanji sucks in a harsh breath and stumbles backwards, it’s too much, it’s too big an idea to get into his brain. He trips and falls, landing painfully on his ass and cracking his shoulder blade on the steel edge of the bed. He feels like he’s suffocating, like he’s drowning. He gasps in another stuttering breath and coughs out a sob, tears spill over his lids instantly and stream down his face in big fat wet droplets.

Zoro is gone, he’s been taken from him and returned to the institute. He’s in his father’s control and his father right now is doing everything he can to destroy him, and that means Zoro. His father took him from him deliberately, tricked him into it, just so that he could have Zoro somewhere that Sanji couldn’t protect him and do… anything to him. And it was his fault. 

He howls like a wounded and dying thing and doubles in on himself, the shame, hatred and above all grief balling into a dense mass in his gut that feels like a black hole, sucking the rest of him in. 

“Oh Jesus, don’t… don’t cry.” Smoker says awkwardly. 

Sanji hears the creak of the door to the cell next to him and a stiff hand extends through the bars and pats him tensely on the shoulder once, then twice. 

“It’ll… be okay.” Smoker manages to say, but it won’t. It’ll never be okay ever again because he’s lost Zoro! 

Sanji can’t speak, he’s barely managing to coordinate breathing in without choking on his own tears and sobbing and howling uncontrollably. The hand withdraws and Sanji curls into himself on the floor.

He had one fucking responsibility, for Zoro. All he had to do was to keep him safe and happy. And what did he do? He gave him away. He gave him away out of anger and ego in a courtroom where he couldn’t take it back and he gave him to a man who hates him, who has no respect for Zoro as a person and wants to hurt him to make Sanji suffer. Zoro loved him, trusted him and he betrayed him. Zoro had finally relaxed around him, warmed to him and he’d thrown it all away.

And it wasn’t like the other man hadn’t tried to warn him, the clever Zoro had seen what his father was up to and tried to warn him but Sanji had silenced and ignored him like a child or an animal. He is scum. He’d been given Zoro, a chance to be truly loved by someone with such a beautiful soul and he’d lost it. He doesn’t deserve to live. He wants to puke, he wants to die to spare him the pain of knowing what he’s done. 

But how he feels is nowhere near as bad as Zoro is going to be feeling right now. Zoro had spoken of the harm that the employees of the institute liked to inflict on him when they threw him in solitary, locked up in a featureless box. No doubt his father was doing his best to ensure that Zoro suffered as much as possible. And Zoro had to be thinking that it was all Sanji’s fault, he had to be regretting every laying eyes on him, Zoro had to be cursing himself for trusting him at all. 

It goes around and around in his brain, what he’s done, what Zoro must be going through, hating himself for even existing. He cries and screams until his throat is hoarse and calls himself every name under the sun, he cries until he feels dehydrated and sick and then hurls. Eventually his eyes dry, probably so he doesn’t shrivel away by bawling out his entire supply of body fluid. Eventually he is silent and empty on the floor of the cell. He hates himself for wanting to die, for being too cowardly to even face his own guilt. No, now he accepts what he’s done, he accepts that every breath is too good for him but that he deserves to suffer as much as possible, he could suffer for eternity and it would never make amends for what he’s done. 

A familiar red shoe and wooden peg leg come into view and pause whilst another pair of booted feet step closer. A key jingles in the lock and the cell door swings inwards. Zeff comes closer and stops. Sanji sits up unsteadily and stares at Zeff’s foot and his peg leg, another person hurt because of him, he was a disaster area. He should be cordoned off and kept somewhere far away from decent people so he couldn’t wreck any more lives.

“We’ll be out in a minute.” Zeff says gruffly, Smoker shrugs and walks off. As soon as the door to the cell block shuts Zeff stiffly kneels down before him and looks him in the eyes. 

“Talk to me, little eggplant.” He says quietly. It’s the same thing that he said when thinking about his mother dying had nearly made him sick, when he’d bottled up all the pain until it nearly killed him. One day Zeff had just knelt down and said those words, it’d all come pouring out then.

“Why… what’s wrong with me? Everyone who loves me is taken from me, and it’s always my fault!” Sanji sobs. And it was true, his mother loved him and because of him she’d drowned, Zeff had rescued him and lost a limb in the process and now Zoro was back in the clutches of the institute. 

“I’m not dead, I’m still here. And I love you little eggplant.” Zeff says gently, pulling Sanji close. Those last words are whispered quietly, like a secret. Zeff has never said them before and probably never will again, it breaks Sanji’s heart.

“You lost your leg and because of me, Spandam could destroy your dream whenever he wants! You’d have been better off if you’d let me drown, everyone would!” Sanji bawls, pressing his face into Zeff’s shoulder. Zeff growls and pulls Sanji off of him, his hands painfully sharp on Sanji’s shoulders.

“You listen to me brat, I didn’t do this so that you could regret me saving your life! You gave that boy a chance he never had, he won’t regret having you in his life and I certainly don’t, so don’t you dare insult us both by wishing you were dead!” Zeff snarls, shaking him.

“You’re right, Zoro’s current situation is your fault, so are you going to sit here and cry about it or DO something?!” The old man challenges.

Sanji looks up at the gruff old man, the only real father he’s ever had, more than he deserves. He sniffs and rubs his eyes fiercely with his palms and wipes his nose on his sleeve. He forces himself to his feet and stands. His heart still feels like its in a million pieces, he still wishes he’d never been born, he still wants to curl up and cry until he dies. But this isn’t about him, it’s about Zoro.

“I’m going to do something. I’m going to fight this and I’m going to win, I have to.” He says solemnly. Zeff grins up at him and stands up, creaky with old age.

“That’s my boy. Let’s go.” Zeff grins, slapping him on the shoulder and leading the way out. He follows him out of the police station and expects to see Zeff’s old beat up car, instead his own slick blue flying car is waiting, with Franky leaning against the side. The cyborg straightens up when he sees him and snags him into a tearful hug.

“Oh man, Sanji! It’s going to be okay ‘lil bro! We’re gonna get through this okay? Okay?” Frankly wails, squeezing him tightly. 

“Why? Car?” Sanji gasps out as Franky crushes his lungs. After a second the cyborg puts him back on the floor and casts a surprised look at the car.

“It’s mine, remember?” Franky smiles at him. Sanji suddenly remembers that last year he gave Franky the rights to both of his cars as a birthday present, the cyborg had always been complaining how hard it was to trick them out when he wasn’t the legal owner of them so Sanji had given them to him as a gift, Franky still drove him everywhere so it was fine. He grins, Spandam must have been pissed when Franky drove off in them with all the paperwork. 

“How are you holding up buddy?” Franky asks, rubbing his shoulder gently. 

“I-” Sanji searches for a word but then just shakes his head. “I just want to get Zoro back, that’s all.” 

“Well we need to get back to the Baratie then, everyone else is there. Your Zoro has a lot of friends doesn’t he?” Zeff remarks as he climbs into the back of the car. 

“Yeah, he does.” Sanji agrees and follows him. 

“So do you.” Zeff adds as they take off. 

The flight only lasts about three minutes, the Baratie is hardly far from the police station, situated as they were at the dodgier end of town. They land, get out and head to the back door of the Baratie. Sanji can’t help but notice that the place is closed right now, he suspects that Zeff shut down for today for him, Sanji can’t think of the last time that happened. 

He opens the back door to the Baratie, the one that leads to the kitchen. The inside is packed, Vivi and Igaram are together at one side by Robin and Nami, Luffy and Ace are loitering by the fridge and Usopp and Brook are by the ovens. Before he gets to greet anyone though Luffy hurls himself towards him with his fist raised at the same time that Nami shrieks and leaps for him. 

Sanji closes his eyes, deserving anything that they do to him but… surprisingly nothing happens. He opens his eyes again and sees that Zeff has a shouting and squirming Luffy pinned painfully to the floor with his peg leg and Robin has Nami contained in a wrap of hands. 

“Let me at him! He betrayed Zoro!” Luffy shouts, slamming his fists on the floor.

“He TRUSTED you!” Nami screams, squirming in Robin’s grasp. 

“KNOCK IT OFF!” Ace roars suddenly, causing both of them to still.

“We all want Zoro back and, as much as it hurts to admit, ripping Sanji limb from limb isn’t going to achieve that.” Ace adds with a glare at Sanji. 

Nami sniffles and drops her gaze to the floor, cautiously Robin’s hands let her go and, when she doesn’t lunge for him again, disappear. Zeff lets Luffy up as well with a warning look. 

“Well then, if that’s over with, we have work to do.” Igaram says, coughing elegantly with a little ‘mah’ noise. They all enter the kitchen and shut the door, Zeff goes off to the fridge and starts cooking, it’s his default state. Franky sighs and leans against the counter by the oven with Usopp.

“Hm, one thing.” Vivi says brightly and walks to Sanji. He thinks that he sees it coming before anyone else does when Vivi smacks him hard and fast across the face, she was so quick that no one else could react. 

“You’re a stupid, stupid man.” Vivi hisses at him, her fingers curled into a tight fist. Her tense shoulders loosen a little after a second or two and she reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“That’s it, I just needed to get that out. I promised Zoro that I’d keep an eye on you and stop you doing anything dumb, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t make you pay.” She says, returning to the stunned Igaram’s side. Sanji’s cheek burns but he doesn’t even move.

“So, what’s going to happen now?” Franky speaks up, breaking the silence. Igaram seems to shake himself and look at Franky.

“Well, I know that they took a swab of Sanji’s blood when they knocked him out, it’s being tested at two separate government labs right now. Both tests need to independently match up before they can be entered as evidence. If they prove Spandam’s case false then it’s pretty much over, they hinged the espionage charge on the fraud case so if the first is thrown out, so is the second. Zoro and everything else that Spandam bought Sanji will be returned.” Igaram says simply. 

“So that’s it? Why go to all this trouble, unless Sanji really isn’t his son.” Nami says, casting a suspicious eye on Sanji from across the room.

“I am his son, believe me, I wouldn’t be around that bastard for any amount of money.” Sanji answers curtly, his lip curling angrily at the mere mention of his father. 

“You don’t exactly look like him though, or any of your family.” Igaram points out academically.

“I have an entire abusive childhood worth of memories of him, I didn’t just show up in his life. Or do you need me to detail them for you?!” Sanji snaps angrily. He notices the surprised and slightly pitying looks on the faces of the people around him suddenly directed at him. He breathes out slowly and tries to remind himself that this is something he’d never normally talk to anyone about, besides Zoro of course. 

“Sorry, I’m just… losing my shit here without-” Sanji cuts himself off and clenches his fingers in his hair. He’s losing it without Zoro. He doesn’t finish his sentence however and everyone seems to know what he means. 

“So… it’s all going to be fine then? How long do those tests take?” Usopp asks, as if Sanji hadn’t snapped at all. 

“I would say that they’ll be done tomorrow, unless there are complications with the results not lining up we should hear about it in court tomorrow morning. We’re already scheduled to appear then anyway.” Igaram shrugs. 

“So Zoro will be back right after that then?” Luffy asks brightly. Sanji shakes his head, it’s not going to be that easy, he doesn’t know how but his father wouldn’t spend all this time, money and scandal for a brief warning.

“Don’t plan for everything to go to plan.” Zeff says over his shoulder as he tips some ingredients into a pot. 

“So… let’s assume then that for whatever reason Sanji fails this DNA test, it’s not like Spandam isn’t rich enough to bribe some labs anyway.” Nami nods thoughtfully. 

“Well then, Sanji, I’m going to need a list of everyone that you’ve spoken to your father’s company about in the last six months. Start from yesterday and work backwards. Chances are he’ll try to call those people to give evidence.” Igaram says, pulling a large notebook out of his coat and sliding it and a pen over to Sanji. 

Sanji sighs and tries to remember everything as he writes it down, he wonders who he spoke to that his father got to. He wouldn’t be surprised if Nezumi was on there, and Cabaji no doubt is out for his blood too. He writes and writes and the more he does so the more isolated he feels. He looks around the room and sees Nami, she’s only here because of Zoro, as are Luffy and Ace. Igaram and Vivi are doubtlessly only here as a favour to Zoro. Robin and Franky are here to take down Spandam and Usopp… he’s never really been sure why Usopp liked him, maybe he had a dark past and was only here for himself too. All these names that he’s putting down are people that he thought that he could either trust or speak to in good faith, perhaps some of that faith was misplaced. His heart aches for Zoro, Zoro was always just around him because he wanted to be. He had the chance to leave and decided to stay, he defended Sanji against everyone. And now… now because of him he’d been taken away. 

“Where… where do you think that Zoro is right now? Smoker said that the institute took him but…” Sanji trails off, looking up. Nami sighs and looks into the distance. 

“Well, this hasn’t ever really happened before.” Nami admits with a shrug.

“If you’d returned Zoro he would just have been put back into the institute as before, gone to classes and stayed in his dorms. But… this isn’t like that. I doubt they’re letting Zoro go free, especially as he finds it so easy to escape when he’s allowed to wander around.” Nami explains.

“Yeah, if Zoro had been left to roam around the institute as he had before he’d have been at our house within half an hour.” Ace agrees with a tense nod.

“They’ll have him locked up somewhere.” Luffy adds in an unhappy tone. 

“Well…” Nami starts with a frown but shakes her head as she cuts herself off. 

“What?” Sanji presses, leaning forward urgently, he needs to know. Nami’s worried eyes turn to him and she chews on the end of her hair for a moment.

“Your father isn’t going to go through all of this trouble if he expects to lose, so… he has to have a longer term plan for Zoro. If he thinks that he can get to you through Zoro, which he can, then he’s going to try to hurt Zoro as much as possible, and seeing as you’ve pissed Cabaji off as well…” Nami trails off sadly and returns to chewing on her hair. 

“Blackbeard.” Robin states in a dark tone, her eyes hard and angry. 

Sanji sits still and stares wide eyed, the text from Zoro’s report is repeating endlessly through his mind.

"Zoro's disobedient and feisty nature can, in my expert opinion, only be corrected by a firm hand a forced sexual submission… Zoro does not fear physical pain so psychological reconditioning will be far more effective”

Sanji thinks that he might be sick.

Could Zoro be there right now? Could he already be tied up by Blackbeard being forced to… to… oh god. It wasn’t like Spandam or Blackbeard had much to fear if they did harm Zoro and he still won, the most they’d get charged with is vandalism of property, and even then seeing as Zoro isn’t technically his right now he might not even be able to bring that charge about. 

How can he ever atone for this? If that really is what’s happening then how can he look Zoro in the eye when he gets him back, because he has to get him back – there is no other option. How can he look him in the eye again knowing what he’s responsible for? When he knows what his foolishness is costing the other man? And that’s if Zoro is still Zoro when he gets him back, Zoro did say that no one has ever survived Blackbeard with their mind in tact, they come back as empty shells. 

Why was he worrying about forgiveness anyway? He didn’t deserve it from Zoro, not after this. Hell, maybe when he gets Zoro back he should just hand the other man his swords and accept his no doubt short fate. 

“Stop that.” Ace’s voice jolts him from his agonising spiral. He gasps and looks up, Ace is sliding into the seat next to him, the rest of the room is empty, evidently everyone else left for food some time ago and he hadn’t noticed. There’s a cooling bowl of soup before him.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but I have. I also saw the news, there were cameras recording you two, not that you noticed I suppose.” Ace states, pulling a newspaper out of his duffel bag. He slides it across the table to Sanji. The cover picture holds his gaze, it’s him and Zoro being wrenched apart by the authorities, their faces are mirrors of each other, both showing desperation and agony. The next photo after it shows the same picture just a few seconds later, Zoro’s gone limp, his fingers falling from Sanji’s hand. His face is a picture of soul-wrenching agony, his mouth open in a scream as he desperately tries to grab back onto Zoro. It makes his heart hurt to look at his moment of failure so closely. 

“I saw the way that he looked at you, I heard what he said.” Ace states simply. He flicks his fingers in a slightly nervous gesture, flicking a flame onto his finger and off again. 

“Zoro never looked at me quite like that. We were friends obviously but… never really anything more. I thought that perhaps Zoro couldn’t feel like that for anyone, not after his life and not after losing Nami- although apparently he didn’t lose her. I’d thought that what he and I had was as good as it was going to get. But you…” Ace cuts himself off with a shake of his head and his finger traces the outline of Zoro’s desperate expression on the page below him. His dark eyes contain a certain amount of… resignation that he’s never seen on his face before, he’s given up. Perhaps he’s given up on the idea of Zoro ever loving him back, he remembers Zoro’s story about his and Ace’s past and Sanji actually feels sorry for him again. He knows that he’s fucked up beyond all manner of fuck-up-itude but… at least he knows that Zoro loves him, or loved him at one point. It’s certainly more than he deserves to have had Zoro ever love him, let alone if the other man loves him right now or ever will again. He would completely understand if Zoro never even wanted to be in the same country as in him the future. He starts to feel the bleak depressive spiral come back.

“I know what you’re thinking, you think that Zoro will never forgive you for what you’ve done. And maybe he shouldn’t, I’m not sure that he should.” The firestarter says, giving Sanji a hard look that he entirely deserves. 

“But Zoro isn’t like that, I know you love him and he loves you, etcetera, etcetera, but I know him better than you do. I’ve known him for longer and I know how Zoro works. And… if your heart is in the right place, Zoro will forgive you almost anything. Believe me, I would know.” Ace sighs, holding a flame in his palm before sharply extinguishing it. Sanji’s mind flicks to the burnt out hole in Zoro’s arm, the swordsman’s first instinct had been to protect Ace from him, from the authorities, from everyone. There had been no question in Zoro’s mind about forgiveness, as far as the swordsman had been concerned Ace had never meant to hurt him and he’d done so out of love and protectiveness. The worst that Zoro had done was to try to make Ace feel bad about it one time, and only because he’d been attacking Sanji. Ace had nearly crippled Zoro for life and taken away his ability to use his swords, but Zoro had forgiven him instantly without question or reservation. 

Could… could he be so lucky too? Did he even deserve such treatment? Definitely not but… it doesn’t mean that his heart doesn’t ache for it. 

“So don’t spend your precious time feeling guilty, spend it getting Zoro out of there.” The other man says with an air of finality. 

“And, it’s not that I don’t hate you any more, because I do. But the only reason that I didn’t punch you when you came in was because I’m not sure that I could make you feel any worse than you already do. Which is some comfort for me at least.” Ace says and leaves the room. 

Sanji eats his dinner alone, not really tasting it at all, after more work on outlining who might be called in court if this test falls through he goes to bed alone. It’s the same small single bed that he slept in when he lived here with Zeff, he slept in this bed when Zeff helped him put his life back together. 

He remembers being curled up under these blankets knowing that his father wasn’t all that far away, he remembers pulling the blankets over his head and vowing to never go near the man that he hated so much again. As soon as he’d made that promise his life here had grown, he’d fallen into step as Zeff’s protégé, he’d been happy and successful. But he couldn’t wish for it to have been different, if it had been then he would never have met Zoro. 

He wonders where Zoro is now, he knows that Nami and Ace think that he’s with Blackbeard but Sanji just can’t believe that his father would be able to move so quickly. Even with his father expediting things it had taken a week from his father announcing that he’d have a mate to the day of their ceremony. Besides, Zoro no doubt suspected that Blackbeard would be his destination as well and so of course he’d try to buy time. No, Zoro was out of that man’s hands for the moment anyway, but he needed to win this trial and quickly. He realises with a sense of self loathing that he’d been so preoccupied about his trial that he’d barely paid any attention to Zoro that morning, he hadn’t even slept with him again!

He bites his lip and forces himself to sleep, he’ll need all the mental agility he can get tomorrow for the trial and he doesn’t want to be sleep deprived.

 

The next morning Sanji and Igaram are standing outside the court building waiting for their case to be called in, meanwhile Sanji is trying to smoke as many cigarettes as he can at the same time in a futile attempt to calm his nerves.

“Remember to keep your temper under control this time, you’ve already made a bad impression on the judge. I need you to be a saint.” Igaram warns him, wagging a finger in his direction. Sanji glowers but nods as he exhales smoke, it was hardly his fault that Zoro being taken away from him made him kick off so much, he was having his goddamn heart ripped out at the time!

“And when you’re questioned keep your answers short, don’t give Lucci enough rope to hang you with, he’ll twist your words.” The lawyer adds worriedly. 

"Prince vs. Prince?" The court clerk calls out, making Sanji jump. He and Igaram file in together.

"Mah, now listen, I have something up my sleeve so just keep quiet and trust me." Igaram says quietly. Sanji bites his tongue, he wants to point out that he had trusted Igaram last time and the other man hasn't stopped Zoro getting taken away.

They sit down at the front of the court, adjacent to his insufferably smug looking father.

"The police department and court lab have returned their results, I have them here." The judge announces holding up an envelope in her hand. Sanji glances over at his father, he looks far too confident, he must know something that Sanji doesn't. The judge's elderly fingers slide under the sealed envelope flap and tear the top open, she pulls out two pieces of paper and reads each silently for a moment.

"Both of these results agree, therefore this court will accept them as binding, are we all agreed?" The judge says, looking at Igaram and Lucci.

"Yes, your honour." Both Lucci and Igaram nod.

"Igaram, the second test result that you requested after your client so rudely interrupted things last time are here too. They both match as well." The judge adds, with a stern look at Sanji. Sanji's eyes widen, was this the trick up his sleeve that Igaram had spoke about? Lucci and his father look surprised too, evidently they didn't know about this either – perhaps they had been too busy gloating as the love of Sanji’s life was torn from him.

"It is the conclusion of both labs that the DNA of Sanji Prince does not match the supplied DNA of Spandam Prince, and therefore he is, without doubt, not his son." The judge reads aloud.

The court as a whole sucks in a breath, Sanji feels like his heart has stopped. He... He really isn't Spandam's son? How did that make sense? He certainly wasn't conning the man, he remembers his whole life and he was definitely there!

"However, in comparison with the maternal DNA supplied by the Royal Institute records on request of the defendant’s lawyer, it is the verdict of both labs that Sanji Prince has an undeniable maternal link to the mate Shakuyaku, more commonly known as Shakky." The judge reads.

"Cheating whore!" Spandam snarls quietly, though his voice carries far.

Sanji's jaw snaps shut, how dare he insult his mother?! His fists ball and he moves to open his mouth to shout at him when Igaram's hand lands on his shoulder and his voice speaks into his ear.

"Remember what happened last time you opened your mouth in here?" He says in a whisper. All the fight evaporates from Sanji's blood as a flash of Zoro being dragged from him appears in his mind.

"Filthy, fucking slut!" Spandam snarls a little louder.

With his mind numbed by the memory of losing Zoro he can see that Spandam is trying to bait him, he can also see that it was what he was doing before. Well, it won't happen again. He closes his eyes and breathes out calmly and faces forward fully again in silence.

"Are you quite done?" The judge asks Spandam in an unamused tone.

Igaram coughs in his strange little 'mah' way and stands up again.

"His crudeness aside I do believe that Lord Prince is correct in his conclusion. My client was likely born as a result of Shakky’s infidelity. And whilst that is against the terms of her contract with Lord Prince here, it isn't something that my client can be punished for, or even something that he was even aware of as I'm sure you could gather from his shocked expression." Igaram says smoothly.

“As my client is his mother’s son, the defence proposes that he was conceived outside of the master-mate relationship but was unaware of this. Thus, the fact that my client’s DNA does not match Lord Spandam’s is no grounds for fraud. Furthermore, as this was not fraud Lord Spandam is not entitled to gifts that he gave my client back as he was not tricked into giving them. If he wishes to exclude my client from official records and his will then that is his own prerogative. The burden of proof here is on the prosecution to prove that my client did know his parentage and somehow decided to defraud Lord Spandam, otherwise my colleague will have to concede the case.” Igaram continues confidently. Sanji’s mouth turns up into a smile, this was what Igaram was talking about. Unless Spandam and Lucci could prove that he was a fraudster, which they surely couldn’t as he wasn’t, then he had to win!

"Thank you for explaining how court works Igaram, I was unsure until now." Lucci shoots back sarcastically.

"He raises a good point, I really hope that you have more evidence than this gentlemen." The judge says with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course we do. I would like to question the defendant." Lucci says stiffly. Sanji glances up at Igaram who nods. He lets the court clerk guide him up to the witness box and swear him in, he vows not to lie and to be severely punished if he should be caught doing so, he wonders what his father is going to do when he's up here, lie probably.

Lucci prowls in front of him, looking like some big predatory cat.

"Sanji, did you know about the results of this DNA test beforehand?" Lucci asks him smoothly.

"That was the first time I'd heard it." Sanji answers, shaking his head.

"But did you know that Lord Prince wasn't your father before today?" Lucci questions him.

"No." Sanji replies flatly, remembering Igaram's earlier advice to him about not saying more in court than he had to, everything that he said was considered evidence and could easily be used against him, especially by someone as sneaky as Lucci or his father. Although Spandam wasn't his father anymore, or ever actually, that pleasant idea was going to take some getting used to.

"Remember that you're under oath." Lucci says sharply.

"If the prosecution could stop insulting my client's memory and intelligence that'd be great." Igaram interjects, making Sanji grin.

"Get on with it Lucci." the judge reprimands.

"So tell me about the shipwreck where you lost your mother Shakky." Lucci says, leaning against the bench casually. Sanji shifts uncomfortably, he doesn't like talking about this but now he really doesn't have a choice.

"We were at sea, on a ship called the Orbit." Sanji starts with a sigh.

"Was Lord Prince there with you?" Lucci interjects.

"No." he says shaking his head.

"Why? Where were you going?" Lucci presses.

"I... I don't know, I don't remember. I know that my mother and I left in a hurry, I hadn't packed anything much. But I don't remember much more, it's all a bit blurry after the trauma." Sanji answers, he genuinely doesn't remember, in truth he hadn't thought about WHY he was at sea since that day, only that he had been. It was actually a little odd, why would his mother have brought him out to sea for no reason? It wasn’t as if they had relatives in foreign countries to visit, why had they been at sea? He keeps his worries to himself though, he hardly needs Lucci questioning him more on it.

"That's a little implausible, and convenient for you." The lawyer says nastily.

"Really? You think so? I think it would be more convenient for me to be able to tell you so you'd stop questioning me." he points out flatly.

"Continue." Lucci orders, clearly unimpressed with Sanji's argumentative nature.

"There was a storm and we ended up on deck, there was another ship near us and the two crashed into each other, destroying them both. Zeff spotted me and pulled me out of the water, I was drowning so he saved my life, he lost his leg in a chain in the process though. We got caught up in this huge wave and ended up stranded on a tall bare rock spire, we were too far above everything to help anyone and there was no other land around.” Sanji says, able to see that rock in his mind as clearly as he could the day he landed on it. 

“We could do nothing but watch as my mother and everyone else was either swallow by the storm or drowned. There was nothing on that rock, no food, no animals and no life but us. It rained enough so that we didn't die of dehydration, we went three months without food, I wanted nothing more than to die in my sleep, to get out of that hell." Sanji says, wrapping his arms around himself as he tries to stay grounded and not get completely dragged into the memory. The clawing hunger starts gnawing at him, as it always does when he thinks of those times, he knows that he'll need to eat as soon as he gets out of court now.

He looks up and realises that everyone else in the room, the judge, the jury, even Igaram is staring at him. He feels wetness on his cheeks and hurriedly scrubs at them.

"Sorry." he apologises hastily, his voice cracking slightly on the word.

"So you were rescued then." Lucci says with an uncomfortable cough.

"Obviously. Zeff and I were finally spotted by a boat, he saw it first and flagged it down, got us both on it - I was too weak to even walk then. We got back into the country and we worked to set up his restaurant, I lived with him." Sanji explains with a weary sigh.

"Why didn't you return to your own father? I understand that this restaurant is in this very city. Surely you wanted to see your own father if you thought that's what he was, unless you knew even then that he wasn't?" Lucci says innocently, obviously trying to trick him into admitting something.

"I didn't know that he wasn’t my father, but I didn't want to see him. I owe Zeff a debt that I still can't repay, I don't expect you to understand that. He saved my life when I would have died, I owe him for that, but he lost his leg to save some brat that he didn't know from Adam. He kept my mind together when I hated him for taking a quick death from me, I owe him more than I can ever hope to repay. The least I could do is to stay by his side and help him rebuild his life." he snarls at Lucci, the slick bastard could never understand what that was like.

"But you didn't try to even contact him? Why is that?" Lucci presses harder.

"Because he was no father to me, not in the real sense. He was cold to me at best, he'd hit me or my mother whenever he was angry, I hated him." Sanji says tightly, he knows that it was never his fault but part of him is still the same small kid ashamed that his father hurt him and hateful because he couldn't protect his mother.

"Do you have any proof that Lord Spandam was anything other than kind and loving towards your mother?" The lawyer cuts in sharply. Sanji's jaw snaps shut in rage.

"Photographing him abusing us was never a priority, no." he answers through gritted teeth. Lucci’s smirk becomes self confident and cocky.

“Please only say things that you can verify in court please, rather than just spuriously accusing my client of abuse.” Lucci reprimands him, Igaram sighs but motions for him to continue. 

“Other than that, I never wanted money and the only person that I loved was dead. I didn’t want to go back to my father and I had a new family at the Baratie.” He finishes. 

“But you returned as soon as your father tracked you down and asked for you to.” Lucci points out. 

“He showed up and demanded that I come with him, I told him no, he threatened to destroy the Baratie if I didn’t, so I didn’t have a choice.” He argues back, remembering all too well the day that Spandam had by chance darkened the Baratie’s door when Sanji happened to be waiting. When Spandam had made his threat it was just like being a kid again, small and scared of the man that could cause him pain just because he was bigger, stronger and meaner. He’d never been able to protect himself, and he’d done a poor job of protecting his mother, but the least he could do was to protect Zeff and his dream. 

“Can you substantiate that claim either?” the goddamn lawyer asks in a patronising tone.

“I have a whole bunch of people at the Baratie that you can check with, yeah.” Sanji responds primly, he really wants to kick Lucci’s face off right now. 

“Cheats and criminals you mean? I’ve seen the records of the people you employ.” Lucci smiles smugly. 

 

Sanji sits on the steps outside the court watching the world go by, he should really go home to the Baratie but he’s not sure that he can manage that just yet. He’d told Igaram that he’d see him later and just sat down and not moved. They’d gone round and round in circles in court, with Lucci pestering him over and over in a million different ways about how he surely knew that he wasn’t Spandam’s son. The only bright side was that when Lucci started bringing up pictures of Sanji’s cousins and demanding to know how Sanji could possibly not have realised that he wasn’t related to these people, Igaram then promptly stood up and agreed that, yes, any idiot could see that Sanji wasn’t related to them. He then proceeded to ask why, if it was so obvious, Lord Spandam had only just realised it and managed to fall for what would apparently be the most pathetic con ever. That had shut Spandam and Lucci right up. 

He turns a sealed envelope around in his hands over and over again, he’s been doing so for the last ten minutes without opening it. Smoker had caught him after the court was adjourned and given it to him. 

“Spandam wasn’t your father, but we did find a paternal match in the criminal database. I printed everything out in here if you want it.” Smoker had said to him and then disappeared in, quite literally, a puff of smoke leaving Sanji with an envelope and a million questions.

Does he really want to know who his father was? It wasn’t as if they’d ever been there for him, the only man who ever had was Zeff. Zeff had showed up the moment his old life ended, when his mother drowned and he tried to leave everything else behind. Despite the massive size of the sea they had literally ran right into Zeff’s ship and before Sanji had known what was happening there were big strong arms hauling him to the surface. They had both searched desperately for Shakky until they’d washed up on that pillar. They had both spotted her then, when they were too far away to do anything. She’d looked up at them both and seemed… relieved, almost happy and then with one big wave she was gone forever. 

He slides his thumb underneath the flap and rips it open, he’s about to slide it out when he hears the familiar sound of a peg leg and looks up to see Zeff walking towards him. With an elderly huff the old man drops down to sit next to him. 

“What’ve you got there eggplant?” Zeff asks. He doesn’t ask how court won, obviously if Sanji had won he’d have screamed it in joy at the old man, and since he hasn’t Zeff doesn’t need to ask. He always liked that about the man, he didn’t say much but when he did speak he said smart and well thought out things.

“Paternity results. Spandam wasn’t my father but they found the man that is in the criminal records database. Do you want to see?” Sanji says, holding up the envelope to the old man. 

“You’ve read it then?” the chef asks with wide eyes.

“No…” Sanji answers, looking down at the opened envelope in his hands. In them he holds the answer to who is father really is, or was. 

“Sanji… I-” Zeff frowns, picking at the hem on his shirt.

“You know what?” Sanji interrupts suddenly, surprising both himself and Zeff. 

“I don’t need this fucking noise. I’ve got enough to deal with right now.” He snaps angrily.

“All this piece of paper shows me is who gave me half of my DNA. It won’t tell me if that person ever loved my mother, or if she was nothing to him. It won’t tell me why he left her to deal with my father alone, it won’t give me his reasons or his life story, none of it!” He exclaims, waving the letter about. He looks at Zeff and his face and his emotions soften a bit.

“I can’t choose who I’m related to, but… I can choose who my family is. My mother was family, and you… you’re family. You gave everything for me and you never had to, my mother gave me life but you preserved it.” Sanji says, running his thumb across the envelope. 

“I don’t need to know what’s in here because I already know who my father is. You’re the only father I ever had old man, and you’re the only one I want. That’s more than any piece of paper can tell me.” He says gently. He slides his hand into his jacket and pulls out his lighter, he runs it along the edge of the envelope and holds it up as it burns.

“Shitty kid.” Zeff says in a strangled tone, Sanji looks over with a small smile to see the old man staring resolutely ahead and blinking a little quicker than normal, and if his eyes seem a little shinier than they usually are well… that could just be a trick of the light couldn’t it?

“Stupid old bastard.” Sanji agrees with a gentle smile and drops the flaming envelope to the ground before it burns his fingers. 

“Well that’s touching, it’s important to have your family around you when things get tough isn’t it?” A voice laughs from behind them. Sanji turns sharply to see the tall, fat and imposing figure of Blackbeard looming behind him. He leaps to his feet, defensive and angry.

“Whoa, cool your heels blondie. I thought I’d come to congratulate you, not fight with you.” The guy laughs loudly, his golden tooth shining in the light. 

“Congratulate me?” Sanji blinks in confusion. Zeff rises up by his side and glowers suspiciously at Blackbeard, Sanji doesn’t miss the way that the nefarious man takes a small step away, Zeff might be old but he was one of the best fighters around and misjudging him even now could be fatal. 

“On not being related to Spandam, that slimy little man has done the gene pool a favour by not reproducing. I always did think that you were nothing like him.” Blackbeard grins. 

Privately Sanji agrees but he doesn’t want to tell Teach that. More importantly, though he can feel his temper flaring he’s learning to keep it under control. His father does have Blackbeard on some kind of deal, he is fully expecting this to be some sort of trap or ploy. 

“Anyhow, I thought that I would wish you luck for winning your trial. And I know that funds must be a little tight after you gave your money away, so I wanted to give you something. Just a little donation, maybe you could sell it and afford a better lawyer.” Blackbeard smiles in a way that shows all his teeth and makes Sanji think more of a shark in the water than it does a friendly gesture. 

Blackbeard snags his hand and presses it into his own. Sanji can feel something in his hand, something hard and inorganic but warm from the heat of Blackbeard’s palm. The man pulls him forward so that his lips are practically on Sanji’s ear.

“Because you’ll need all the help that you can get.” He says in a sinister voice before releasing Sanji’s hand and striding off into the distance with his loud, creepy laugh following him. Zeff’s hand lands on Sanji’s shoulder and snaps him out of his daze. The old man shoots him a questioning look and Sanji brings his hand up and unfurls his palm to see what it was that Blackbeard had given him. 

Inside his palm, twisted from what was probably a pair of bolt cutters lies a largish golden padlock. It gleams in the light and Sanji has a million visions of it hanging at his love’s throat, smooth and lustrous in the light. He’d had his signature swirl engraved into it and Sanji can’t help but let his eyes be drawn to it, except now the subtle engraving is highlighted by dark dried blood in the swirl’s grooves. 

It was a message, plain and simple. Blackbeard has Zoro, and he’s not safe at all.


	20. Chapter 20

“Well Sanji spoke to me most recently about it at a party on the 15th, I think he came there to see me about it actually. I’d always tried to be nice to you him you know, to guide him.” Nezumi lies through his mousy teeth. Sanji sits in his chair and glares, Nezumi did always talk to him a lot, and he was the least stuck up of those on the board, but that didn’t mean that they were friends or that Nezumi had been nice to him.

Sanji is sick of this, every witness that they trot out lies about things, sure Igaram is smacking them all back across the court like some demented tennis game but it’s still not getting him ahead. This is just becoming a legal stalemate and frankly after an entire morning and most of an afternoon of this he’s getting sick of having his name dragged through the mud. 

“What was it that Sanji had come to discuss with you?” Lucci asks with a smile.

“About changing the way the institute was run. He was crazy, I think he was drunk in fact, he was slurring and uncoordinated. I guess he loaded up with drink at the bar before coming to me, it’s pretty disgraceful really. He kept talking about changing the way mates were treated and telling people about it, he said that things would be different if he ran the place and that they’d be different soon, one way or the other.” Nezumi says shaking his head.

“I see, and what did you say to this?” Lucci hums thoughtfully. 

“At first I thought it was a drunken joke you know?” he says with a slight laugh. 

“But then I realised he was serious. I kind of laughed it off, told him that it would never work and that he should forget it. But he went on about it for hours, going round and round about how he was going to be better than his father, about how he was going to change the company or destroy it- he said it had to be his way or it wouldn’t exist at all.” He adds. 

“Do you think that he did forget his plan to usurp Spandam from the company?” The lawyer asks leadingly but Igaram doesn’t challenge it for some reason.

“No, he brought it up in the very next board meeting, trying to get people to side with him instead of his father- Lord Prince I mean. I get the feeling that I wasn’t the only person that he talked to about it.” Nezumi remarks. Lucci declares smugly that he has no further questions and then sits down. Igaram clears his throat and stands up.

“Nezumi, you are aware that you are under oath, with that in mind, would you mind clarifying just how long my client talked to you on the night of the 15th?” Igaram asks. 

“Two hours at least, maybe more. He was drunk and raving about it.” The mousy man answers in a blatant lie. 

“You’re sure?” Igaram asks again.

“I’m not stupid, yes I’m sure!” Nezumi argues back.

“Stop badgering my witness Igaram!” Lucci snarls.

“Do you have a point Igaram?” The judge asks with narrowed eyes.

“I do, allow me to submit into flight data from Sanji’s car, driven by his driver, which stated that he left just after eight, less than an hour after he arrived at the party. Also I’m submitting three statements from other drivers that were there that night, including your own Nezumi, who all collaborate this unusual leaving time.” Igaram says, dropping the evidence on the judge’s desk. Sanji smirks as the mousy man starts to sweat as the judge looks over at him. 

“Would you like to revise your statement?” The judge growls.

“Well… I- maybe it wasn’t hours. But it felt like it, he was ranting so much and he was so drunk!” the man squeaks pleadingly.

“Drunk you say? Sure about that too?” Igaram smiles broadly, Nezumi shrinks back but as he looks from Igaram to the judge he clearly sees that he has no choice. 

“Yes.” 

“Well, please again allow me to submit evidence. I find it very strange that a bar that was not licensed to sell alcohol and indeed only distributed mood drinks somehow got my client drunk. Are you planning on telling us anything true today?” the curly haired lawyer asks. 

“I object to you insulting the character of my witness!” Lucci roars ferociously. 

“Your witness has just perjured himself twice in as many minutes, with that in mind his testimony is less than useless and I am striking it from the court record. Perhaps you should fact check your witnesses a little more carefully next time Lucci. With that in mind, I’m calling an end to today’s proceedings, court will resume again at 9am tomorrow morning.” The judge says and slams her gavel down. From the expression on Lucci’s face you’d think she’d slammed it on his nuts.

Sanji and Igaram leave the court and meet Franky who drives them back to the Baratie again. It’s started to become a home base of sort with everyone pitching in ideas about the case and what evidence to put it, the data from the car had actually been Franky’s idea and he had submitted the names of the other drivers for Igaram to question. Igaram tells the beaming driver this as they go. 

The package is waiting for him when he walks through the Baratie’s kitchen door, it’s marked to him and the others are all looking at it. 

“I was going to open it,” Nami says handing it to him, the package is soft and bendy like it’s got clothes or something inside. Sanji frowns, he has no idea what this could be, and he’s certainly not ordered any clothes.

“But it smells… like blood.” She says backing off. 

Sanji’s eyes widen, he’d told everyone yesterday about Blackbeard giving him Zoro’s padlock which is currently weighing down his breast pocket, so they must all be thinking what he’s thinking. He raises the package up and sniffs, sure enough the coppery tang of blood hits him, it’s faint but it’s there. 

His hands shake as he turns the package over, it’s one of those brown paper bags with bubble wrap built in. He rips the flap off and pulls the contents out. There’s a white shirt inside, without even looking too closely at it he knows that it’s the white shirt that Zoro wore to court the other day, the day that he was taken from him. 

Sanji breathes in, the smell of blood is stronger now. He unfolds the shirt from the quarters that it was folded in inside the package, the shirt is completely drenched in sticky half wet-half dry blood from the left shoulder downwards. It’s one long stream of blood, of blood that should be pumping through Zoro’s veins, reddening his cheeks, filling him with life, not spent across his shirt as a taunt to Sanji. The shirt itself is all cut up, as if it had to be cut off of Zoro, indeed there are some small smears of blood along the cuts in the shirt as if Zoro had struggled when it was cut away. He holds the shirt up and hears a clinking sound as something falls to the floor. 

Numbly he leans down and picks up the three golden earrings from the floor and holds them in his hand. They’re Zoro’s. Three mid length gold bars that he’s seen since the moment he laid eyes on Zoro on the day of their ceremony, when the strong golden eyed man with splashes of gold about him showed up in his life. He knows how they taste when he bites Zoro’s ear, he knows how they sparkle in the light when Zoro tilts his head just so and makes some smart-assed comment. They’ve been in his ear that whole time, until now. Now they’re not sparkling, or moving, or chiming, or anything, they’re sat in Sanji’s palm slick with blood and there’s still some of Zoro’s skin in the parts of the earrings. Clearly they were ripped right from his ear, hence all the blood down the shirt. 

He lets out a breath that he’d been holding without realising and feels dizzy for it. He puts the shirt on the table top with the earrings in the centre. The others stare, all having worked out what he’s worked out. Nami lets out a pained noise and swoops in, taking the shirt and earrings from him. She whimpers as she looks from one to the other, her mind obviously coming up with horrible scenarios, maybe even hearing Zoro’s scream as metal rips through flesh – Sanji knows that it’s all that he can hear in his own mind.

He steps away until something else in the envelope catches his eye, a piece of paper. He pulls it out, it’s glossy and printed photo paper in about A4 size. It’s a photo of Zoro on his knees chained up in a black room. Blood is streaming down his neck from his bloodied ear, obviously this was taken just after Blackbeard had ripped the earrings out of him. His collar is turned the other way around and it looks as if the ring that used to have Sanji’s padlock on it now attached to a chain holding Zoro to the wall, his arms are cuffed behind his back, which explains why the shirt in the envelope is all cut up, it must have been the only way that Blackbeard could get it off without uncuffing Zoro. Zoro’s eyes show the sharp sting of pain but his posture, the set of his jaw and the fire in his eyes are all fight. That’s body language that says that if Zoro got free, even if just for a second, he would rip Blackbeard limb from limb and enjoy it too. 

Sanji stares at the picture unblinking for minutes, looking over every detail of Zoro, wishing that he could just pull him out of the page. He connects with the other man’s golden eyes and sees the fight in them. The thought hits Sanji like a slap in the face, Zoro is fighting this, he’s still fighting now. And what the hell is he doing? Sitting in court like a good little boy and letting his not-father set the pace. What the hell is he thinking? Zoro needs him to pull it together and come up with a plan goddamnit!

He drops the photo onto Zoro’s shirt and walks away from it across the kitchen to the fridge. He opens it and begins pulling out ingredients, he needs to cook, he needs to think.

“Sanji! What are you doing? Don’t you even care about Zoro? You just dropped that like he was nothing!” Nami shouts at him, he glances over his shoulder to see her eyes filled with tears as she clutches Zoro’s bloodied shirt in her hands and Zoro’s picture before her. He ignores her and grabs a bowl from the shelf above him and pulls out tools from the draw at his hip.

“Don’t mind him Nami, he gets like this when he needs to think.” Usopp says gently behind him. Sanji tunes them all out, he needs to focus.

250 grams of flour, lightly sifted into a large mixing bowl. He needed to help Zoro.

1 tablespoon of baking powder. It wasn’t as if he could just charge into Blackbeard’s and run off with Zoro though, no matter how much he wanted to. He’d be arrested and Zoro would be taken from him again, likely ruining any chance he had to get the other man back at all.

2.5 tablespoons of caster sugar. No, he couldn’t just rescue him like that, he had to be smart. 

Half a tablespoon of salt. Stopping Spandam in court could take forever, assuming that he won. Zoro doesn’t necessarily have that time, and if anything Blackbeard is making it clear that Zoro is suffering. Zoro might be fighting now but who knows how long he could keep that up?

In a measuring jug pour 450ml of whole milk. His father- no, Spandam was in control here, that needed to change. But how to stop him?

Stir the dry ingredients in the bowl until well mixed. If Spandam had no money then Sanji would be the last of his problems, he’d bomb out of court, no doubt Lucci wouldn’t work for free and the people paid to grease the wheels of the system in Spandam’s favour would stop doing so. 

Melt butter in a pan until you have 100ml, stir well. It couldn’t be as simple as fucking with his investments though, if it was Nami and Robin would have done that already. He knew enough from the accountants that Spandam was pretty bulletproof that way, it was how he’d tried to take down Spandam for Franky before. 

Separate two eggs, keeping the whites in one bowl and adding the yolks to the dry mix. How could he get his hands on most of the man’s money, or simply get it out of Spandam’s hands? 

Add butter and milk to dry ingredient mix and blend together. His biggest source of income and his biggest liability was the institute, which was why he’d made him so angry. He’d been putting that in danger with his behaviour, this whole endeavour had started out as a way for Spandam to make him more like him he’d- shit. That was what this had all been about. Spandam had brought Zoro in to tempt him, knowing that someone like Zoro was unlikely to ever have sex with Sanji willingly, that must have been the criteria that Zoro was selected by, after all the man had been waiting in the institute unpicked for so long with a big damn note in his file saying that he hated everyone and would almost certainly never give it up! 

Continue stirring. The drinks at that party, Zoro hadn’t come across any other colours because people had been trying to ensure that Zoro got as desperate for it as possible, to weaken his resolve. If he had taken advantage of Zoro or forced him into anything then Zoro would have understandably have never trusted him again and he would have been as guilty as the rest of his family, unable to expose them lest he expose himself. It was all to soothe Spandam’s ego and to secure the future of the company, to ensure that when Spandam left it Sanji would be as bound to the status quo as Spandam was.

Whisk egg whites until semi-stiff and just forming gentle peaks. But he hadn’t done that, he’d developed a real relationship with Zoro, the antithesis of everything the institute really stood for. He was a threat. Spandam had tried to force his hand over and over again, even going so far as to frame him but it hadn’t worked. He was, by his existence and behaviour, shining a bad light on the institute. And that threatened Spandam so much that he had to stop him. 

Switch on large waffle iron. The institute is how he would get him then. But how? The institute had so many powerful people invested in it, either by choice or through their own guilt, they would protect it as well. Sanji needed them as allies though if he wanted to take down Spandam. 

Fold egg whites into mixture, gently so as not to deflate them. The truth was that Zoro had the chance to leave but didn’t. He couldn’t say the same for every other mate though could he? Except Vivi… she seemed happy. Why was she so happy? Didn’t Zoro say that she’d joined at an odd time too? When she was old enough to know better and she never said why? He needed to follow that up.

Pour mix into waffle iron and close. Zoro should have just left him and never looked back, if only he had made him. Why didn’t he? He should have just pressed that small keypad to his neck and unlocked him, thrown him in the car and screamed at him to drive. But he didn’t because he was selfish and he loved Zoro, still does. He wanted Zoro with him because of that, so he let him stay. 

Zoro held out his hand, the small black device in his palm.

"Either… either we both go right now, or we both stay." Zoro had said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Chop one medium banana into slices. Where was that black device? If only he could go back and pop Zoro’s collar open now. If only every mate could. 

Retrieve powdered sugar, a plate and a small sieve. Surely that device worked on any collar, it wasn’t unique to Zoro’s. He had got it from that nurse at the hospital hadn’t he? So it must work on any collar, even if the code was unique or random.

Open waffle iron, gently remove waffle and place on plate. How pissed would every master be if their mate ran away? And those mates would be untraceable without their collars.

Decorate waffle with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Those masters would be tearing down Spandam’s door in a rage. He remembers the compensation clause in the contract, it would bankrupt Spandam.

Add sliced banana and a handful of blueberries, just as Zoro likes it. Zoro had the device last… in his pocket. He probably put it in his room. 

Switch off waffle iron, leave building, break into your old home under cover of darkness and enact plan to save the love of your life. 

Serves six. 

 

Illuminated only by the moon Sanji sprints across his lawn, regretting ever making it so large. However he did run a lot so he knew it well. The night is cold and clear and as he leaps up and climbs the wall he feels like he’s properly awake in the first time in days, weeks even. He’d been so busy trying to catch up or to recover from one shock to the system after another he’d just been stuck in survival mode, only reacting, never acting. 

Well fuck that. So the love of his life had been taken from him, what was he going to do about it? Just sit around and cry like some spineless loser? HELL NO! He was going to kick ass and make Spandam rue the day that he ever decided to trouble them. He is going to make Spandam wish that he’d just ignored Sanji in the Baratie! He has taken Zoro from him and as revenge he will destroy him. But first he had to get Zoro back, and to do that he needed a plan. And for this plan he needed that little electronic device. 

He lands on Zoro’s balcony with soundless grace and nervously peers through the window. He knows that there are guards patrolling the building, probably on the very real possibility that he’d do something like this, but they’ve not seen him yet and there aren’t any in Zoro’s room. For once dressing almost completely in black is an asset outside of mere fashion concerns. 

He slides the door open, hoping that no one had the sense to rewire the alarm in Zoro’s room after Ace smashed his way through the balcony door. It doesn’t go off so Sanji suspects that he’s successful. Either way dallying won’t do him any favours. 

Zoro’s desk is empty as are the drawers, his bedside has a half read copy of nineteen eighty four on it, which from Sanji’s memory was a fucking depressing book. He pulls drawers out but no electronic device turns up. He flicks through the copy of nineteen eighty four but it’s not being used as a bookmark either. 

With a quiet growl of frustration he throws himself onto Zoro’s bed and scrubs at his face. Okay, he had to calm down and think like Zoro. What was Zoro like, how would he think? Well… he’d lived a life of owning relatively few things, his swords, his earrings… but the device wasn’t with either of them and depressingly neither was Zoro. So… perhaps he might be a bit clingy with things that he really wanted to keep, perhaps a little clever where he hid them? Yes… the institute would be rather strict on what mates could and couldn’t hold on to, so if you wanted to keep something you’d probably have to hide it. But… Zoro would want to keep something that important close, just in case. So it was probably in this room after all Zoro had stashed his report in this room before he gave it back to him to read as a sign of trust. 

The bed?

He runs his hand down the edge of the mattress at the place where it touches the wall but feels nothing. He slides underneath the bed and runs his hand between the bed and the bed slats but again there’s nothing, it’d probably be too fragile to keep there. He looks underneath all of the furniture, behind everything in the medicine cabinet in Zoro’s bathroom and at the back of his wardrobe. 

He returns to the bed again and throws himself on it once more, it must be here, he needs it to be. His eyes suddenly flick to the large ornate posters of the bed, they were flat on top where they nearly reached the ceiling. Carefully he stands up on the mattress and reaches for the top of the bedpost, it takes a little stretching but he reaches it, the first comes up with nothing but at the top of the bottom left hand one his hand touches smooth plastic. He pulls it back down and examines it, inside his hand is the small black keypad device that could free Zoro, if only he could reach him to put the code in. 

Still, it was a start. He stuffs it in his pocket, smoothes the bed sheets over and leaves the room exactly as it was before leaping from the balcony and off into the night like a shadow. 

 

He runs up into the Baratie and finds the kitchen empty of Zeff, Robin, Nami, Igaram, Vivi and the D brothers, though filled with the usual staff cooking. He skirts past them and dashes upstairs to the lounge of his and Zeff’s place upstairs, Nami is curled up on the sofa with Zoro’s picture in her hands and a desperately lonesome expression on her face. No one else is around though, it’s just him and Nami. 

“Franky and Usopp have gone home, and Igaram and Vivi are off interviewing people. I don’t know where Robin is and I think your old man has gone to bed.” Nami explains without him even asking. 

“Okay.” Sanji nods.

Nami puts down the picture and sighs, running a tense hand through her hair. 

“I hate this, I feel so powerless. There’s nothing I can do to save Zoro, if he was here and I was there he’d know what to do.” Nami says quietly, her fingers tracing the outline of Zoro’s face in the picture again. 

“I never really needed anyone to look out for me at the institute you know? I could have survived on my own, but… having Zoro always looking out for me was nice. It was good to know that someone always had my back, but now that he needs help I don’t have anything to offer.” She says as she wraps her arms around herself. 

“What I wanted to say was, I’m sorry. I’ve done nothing but attack you since I got here and you’re actually doing something to get Zoro back, unlike me. I’m just not used to being so useless, it puts me on edge.” Nami explains quietly, her eyes sad.

“You don’t need to apologise to me.” Sanji says shaking his head as he sits down next to her on the sofa. 

“I can see why he likes you, you know. He’s always had this way of telling good people from bad, or at least as long as I’ve known him. I guess it’s a pretty useful sense, and he seems drawn to damaged weirdos like me, Luffy, Ace… and you. He’s so goddamn noble and idealistic that he makes you want to be better just by being near him.” Nami laughs slightly, her smile wry and a little sad. 

“He certainly does that, I don’t know why I waited so long to fight the institute outright but as soon as Zoro came along…” Sanji trails off with a shrug. 

“Yeah, he has that affect on people. I’m glad that he found you, even if this happened, he’ll say that it was worth it no doubt.” She sighs frustratedly as she gestures to the picture. 

“Well, I’m not planning on him being there for long. I need to destroy Spandam before this gets dragged on too long and Blackbeard breaks Zoro’s mind. I got this, I was hoping that between you, Usopp and Franky you might be able to do something with this.” He says, reaching into his trouser pocket and pulling out the little black device. 

Nami’s eyes widen dramatically as soon as he holds it out to her and she all but rips it from his hands. 

“This is- this is- where did you GET this?!” Nami gasps, staring at it in awe.

“Cindry the nurse gave it to Zoro, she tried to get him to escape. But… well, he wouldn’t leave without me, stupid bastard. So he kept it, Cindry told him that the code she got only lasted for an hour but… well, I was thinking, the collars can receive commands remotely, like the shocks, and they can pick up phone calls remotely, surely they could pick up that signal from a distance?” Sanji explains thoughtfully.

Nami’s eyes widen as she stares at the device in her hand.

“If… if that was possible, and I’m not saying it is, we’d need to get someone really tecchie to look at it. But… but if it was that’d be… revolutionary.” Nami murmurs.

“Franky and Usopp ought to be able to help. But if we could pop every mate’s collar open… well… Spandam would be far too busy dealing with that shit storm to worry about me and Zoro.” He grins deviously. 

“He’d be bankrupt overnight, the institute is contractually obliged to offer compensation to any master who’s mate escapes. They’re so invested in the idea that it’s impossible that they faked my death, I didn’t even do that, it was them. They’d rather people think that I died in a tragic accident with Arlong than that I escaped and murdered him. This is huge. I can’t believe Cindry just gave it away, as far as I knew only a few select people outside of the institute had these.” She says in wonder. 

“Let’s bring them down.” Sanji smirks at her.

He and Nami run their plan by Franky and Usopp that night at Franky’s brother Iceburg’s house. Sanji’s home being taken away from him made Franky and Usopp both homeless, another thing that Sanji has to feel guilty about. 

“Do you think it can be done?” Sanji asks worriedly.

“Well, it would depend on the structure of the programming in the collar. It depends on the kind of language and structures used, if the code is time limited then it seems that they’d have to be generated from the institute’s side and then verified by the collar when an approved device puts them in. If that’s the case then they already communicate wirelessly with the institute to verify it. If we can trick the collar into thinking that it’s got a device pressed against it when the code goes in then in theory… maybe?” Usopp frowns thoughtfully.

“I don’t know enough about the hardware of the collars and I hold my hands up to your expertise with the programming side here Usopp but… surely if you have to have that device it must give off some kind of signal to the collar… magnetic perhaps, or electronic, to tell it that it’s there?” Franky frowns, turning the device over in his hands.

“Yeah, but that’ll still communicate with the computer inside the collar, we can program something that will tell it that value it reads from that being switched on is there, as far as the computer is concerned it’ll be there.” The apparently brilliant sharpshooter asserts with a shake of his head. 

“But can you do it? Can you open the collars?” Nami demands, her hands on her hips impatiently.

Usopp and Franky look at each other for a moment before smiling. 

“Yeah, I think we can. It’ll take time and resources but… yeah.” Franky grins, his face lighting up in happiness.

 

Sanji’s hand is at Zoro’s jaw, holding his face close to his. It was supposed to be a kiss but they’re too busy grinding against each other to co-ordinate such a complex action. Instead they’re simply holding each other close and panting, whining and gasping in each other’s air. 

He kisses Zoro’s jaw and strokes a hand through his soft green hair, from his position on top of Zoro he feels rather than hears Zoro’s gentle chuckle. He feels the flutter of Zoro’s short eyelashes against his skin as the other man lets out a pleased sigh. 

“I love you.” Zoro breathes, sliding a hand up Sanji’s bare ribcage, making him shudder in happiness. Everything just feels so perfect. 

“Oh god Zoro, I love you too.” Sanji answers back, sliding his other hand against Zoro’s jaw and pulling him close for a kiss. Zoro lets out a pained hiss and suddenly Sanji’s hand is wet. He kneels up and looks down at his hands, they’re covered in blood and Zoro’s ear and neck is dripping with the stuff. 

The blanket that was beneath them is suddenly now not a blanket but some kind of glassy dark surface, with a strangled yell Zoro is pulled into it and despite Sanji’s quickest reflexes he can’t grab Zoro back. He tries to stand but slips, there’s blood everywhere and he recognises the laughter that’s in the air as being Blackbeard’s.

“Shut up! Stop it!” He screams into the darkness that’s rapidly surrounding him. He twists and turns, trying to find Blackbeard or Zoro but can find neither. There’s a loud slam, followed by two others and Sanji has just enough time to look up and see three tree sized gold earrings falling towards him before they crush him alive. 

He starts awake, gasping, his heart thudding in panic and his hands flailing to protect himself. He sits up in bed, rubbing his tired eyes and tries to work out from the dim lights on the clock on the wall how many hours he has left until he needs to be in court tomorrow morning. Or rather… this morning. 

His heart is still racing but he’s starting to calm down. He can’t help but wonder though just what Zoro is doing right now. Is the other man sleeping? Would Zoro be in a bed and if so would he be alone? He really hopes that Blackbeard hasn’t touched Zoro like that. He doesn’t know how Zoro would cope, from the wild eyed look of fear that Zoro had given him several times when they first met he knows it’s something that Zoro fears a lot. Cabaji was onto something when he recommended it as a way of breaking Zoro’s spirit. He feels sick just thinking about it but he can’t seem to turn his mind away from the idea, especially as that idea could well be Zoro’s reality right now.

Will Zoro hate him by the time he gets him back? He doesn’t know how long it will take. Ace said that Zoro is incredibly forgiving but surely even he has his limits? And even if Zoro does forgive him then it doesn’t mean that he’ll still love him, or that he’ll still want to be with him. Sanji frowns and rolls onto his front. It doesn’t matter what Zoro is like when he gets him back, if he’s broken, if he hates him, if he can’t be near him anymore or even if he’s (and Sanji’s not sure he can bring himself to hope for this) just the same as before – he’ll give Zoro whatever he needs to fix things. If Zoro needs medical attention then he’ll provide it, therapy won’t be a question if Zoro needs that. If he needs space or company he need only say the word, he’ll be whatever Zoro needs him to be. 

Most importantly he’ll love Zoro without limit, from the bottom of his heart. He has no choice about that.


	21. Chapter 21

Sanji wakes up in a haze, his dreams as always chasing Zoro and desperately wondering where he could be and what could be happening to him. Sanji sits up and bed and shakily lights a cigarette. Part of him wishes that he’d never read Cabaji’s damned recommendations, that he didn’t have to dream what he did. He breathes the smoke deep into his lungs and tries to force the images out of his brain. 

In his dream he was stuck behind cell-like bars with Zoro on the other side. He heard Zoro’s yelp as he was shoved to the ground, he saw Blackbeard’s hand pinning Zoro between his shoulder blades as he held him down and…

It was the scream that really got to him, the way Zoro begged and pleaded for it to stop. No matter how hard Sanji kicked, how much he screamed or demanded that Blackbeard stopped he couldn’t get to Zoro, he couldn’t stop him or do anything but watch. But his brain just had to dream up such details, Zoro’s broken sob, the way his fingernails split and bled from clawing at the concrete floor in a desperate attempt to claw his way to escape. 

He feels sick. He curls over his knees and tries to get a hold of his writhing stomach. He wants nothing more than to find Blackbeard’s house, break in and get Zoro. But Nami has told him that he can’t a thousand times. He’ll be caught, he’ll be thrown in jail and Zoro will never get out. And that’s the best case scenario, the worst is that the world thinks he’s gone missing and Blackbeard just keeps him. He could get thrown in Blackbeard’s dungeon or whatever it is and see Zoro getting hurt first hand as well as being tortured himself. None of that will help Zoro, but damn if he doesn’t want to just try. 

He touches the small key on his neck and prays to any god listening that he can get Zoro out okay. His first cigarette is burnt down to the filter now so he lights another, his nerves still not feeling calm enough yet. He makes his way down the kitchen to find everyone else already up and awake in the kitchen, it’s Saturday so there’s no court but Zeff seems to have completely shut the Baratie down for Operation Zoro. The others are all in the midst of planning together.

“If we’re going to distribute a signal to everyone it really needs to be a master signal, something that will open all of the collars at once, if we do it one at a time we risk missing people or being stopped halfway through when they realise what’s happening.” Robin says with conviction. 

“That’s far harder to make though, it may not even be possible – definitely not if you want it done soon. But I could perhaps run a program that would send out keys to each individual collar at an alarming rate, Nami, how many mates are there?” Usopp asks from across the table with a frown.

“The Royal Institute has about a thousand new mates per year, but when you take into account the short life expectancy of the position there are probably only about twenty… maybe twenty five thousand of us about? But we’re all over the world, not just this country.” Nami answers with a sigh as she rubs her temples through stress. 

Usopp frowns and turns to his calculator, tapping in numbers and scribbling on a sheet of paper. Zeff slides a drink over to him without so much as a glance and Sanji sips it automatically, it’s hot chocolate with a strong kick of rum in. Zeff used to give it to him when he had nightmares of his mother drowning; it always took the edge off of his anxiety. He smiles a little and relaxes some, feeling grateful to his old man for the understanding.

“That kind of program could run in five minutes, perhaps slightly less if I can make the code better.” Usopp announces.

“How long do you think it would take to make? You’ve been looking at my collar so…” Vivi asks hesitantly. 

“I don’t know! It’s not exactly easy! And I’m going to need to get access to the institute’s systems to do it, in order to send the signal out to unlock everything.” Usopp exclaims tensely. Sanji sympathises, it must be hard having so many people’s hopes riding on you like that. 

There’s a knock on the door which startles everyone else out of conversation, Nami slips off to the side, ready to escape into a side room should it be someone at the door who might recognise who she is and know that she’s not supposed to be alive. The others watch him as he pulls the door open.

On the other side is a pretty blonde woman dressed entirely in black with a white plastic looking collar around her neck with a heavy looking black padlock on it. She is… familiar. 

“Hello?” He asks with a frown, trying to place her. He leans in the doorway and looks at her; he does know her, but from where? He goes to so many charity balls and social events that it’s hard to place people.

“I have a delivery for you Sanji.” She says, her face impassive. The blank expression and her voice triggers a memory in his mind.

“Hey, I know you… from the hospital. You’re… Cindry, wasn’t it?” Sanji asks as the name comes back to him in a flash. Wasn’t she the one that Zoro said had slipped her the small black device? Was she here to get it back from him? That could jeopardise their entire plan, no way could he let her have it, no matter how much he hates to deny a lady.

“I have a delivery for you Sanji.” She repeats, raising her hand. There appears to be a phone in it, the kind that can transfer calls into the device built into Sanji’s ear. He frowns, why would she be delivering a phone to him? She doesn’t look like a delivery girl; she’s a nurse after all isn’t she? And he’s not ordered a phone…

“Cindry?” Nami gasps from behind the door. The redhead peeks her head around the door with wide eyes, her expression becoming overjoyed when she sees Cindry. 

“Cindry!” She exclaims joyfully, pulling the woman inside and grabbing her into a close hug. But Cindry’s slender body remains stiff and impassive, her eyes glazed and unfocused until they swing back to Sanji again. Her empty stare disconcerts him somewhere deep in his soul but he can’t quite put his fingers on why. 

Vivi comes close, her beautiful features pinched into a frown as Nami pulls back from Cindry, confused at her hug not being returned.

“Cindry, what’s wrong? It’s me, Nami.” Nami frowns, reaching for the scarred woman’s cheek. 

“Nami, no! LOOK!” Vivi yelps, intercepting Nami’s hand and yanking her back. Vivi’s trembling finger is pointing at the dark metal padlock at Cindry’s throat and the mere sight of it is enough to make both girls pull further away in terror.

“No, no! He got her!” Nami chokes out, her hand covering her mouth and tears springing to her eyes. 

Sanji’s mind snaps back to the ball with Blackbeard, Zoro’s terrified face appearing in his mind, the way that he wouldn’t say Blackbeard’s name but just referred to him as him. Zoro had told him what Blackbeard did, he tortured mates until they either died altogether or died inside, until their souls and minds broke irreparably. 

“I have a delivery for you Sanji.” She repeats once more, her blank eyes fixed on him. Sanji backs away, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. This woman is completely dead inside, blank and destroyed, so much so that Blackbeard has been able to mould her into doing whatever he wants, enough that he trusts that she won’t dare disobey him. He’s left her so broken that she doesn’t even have the free will left to do it. 

Nami is crying into Vivi’s shoulder now and Sanji can see why Zoro said that this was what they were all afraid of, how this was worse than death. He understands Zoro’s fear of this, how he’d rather endure anything than become this, and yet he’s ended up in Blackbeard’s hands anyway. 

Cindry’s expression turns feral and she leaps at him, he sees the attack with more than enough time to deflect it but he can’t do so without hurting her, he can’t bring himself to do that. He’ll never hurt a lady. She tackles him to the floor and slams the phone into the side of his head, connecting a call. He hears the final ring echoing in his head before the voice that picks up chills him to the bone. 

“Hello Sanji.” Blackbeard’s voice purrs inside the confines of Sanji’s head, making his skin crawl. 

“Blackbeard!” he snaps, making Vivi and Nami flinch. He sits up and Cindry, without any resistance now, moves with him. 

“I’m glad you got my call, I wanted to talk to you. How do you like my work by the way? Cindry is one that I made earlier; she lost something very important to her master so I got given her for free. I’ve had a week head start on her in comparison to your Zoro but I thought you might like seeing the finished product.” Blackbeard laughs menacingly in a way that makes Sanji’s blood boil. 

Sanji’s eyes widen and he stares at Cindry, she’s ragdoll like in his arms now, keeling to the side and onto the floor. Her body is limp now that she has no further orders from Blackbeard, her eyes staring into nothingness. He scans down her petite body and can’t help but notice the healing cuts and bruises all over her, her skin was scarred before but now… now she’s truly carrying the evidence of her abuse. 

“You’re a monster, I’ll kill you, I swear it.” He snarls at Blackbeard as his eyes hang on a hand-shaped bruise on her inner thigh, knowing just how she must have got that. 

“I’m not a monster, I’m just strong. Weak people in this world don’t interest me, they’re just there to be exploited. Even the strong are all weaker than I am, so finding out just how strong people are interests me.” The man continues conversationally, as if this was a casual chat over tea!

“You see, everyone’s mind is different. Every person has weaknesses and flaws, pride, fear, guilt, and so on and so forth. Everyone has something that will break them, or a combination of things. Cindry here had a very high pain tolerance, her last master liked to test just how far he could go with anaesthetic, hence all the scars on her, so pain couldn’t break her. Mates are actually quite resilient, they’re used to living in fear and they become stronger for it.” He adds with a small note of admiration in his voice.

“What broke Cindry here was fear, it turns out that she couldn’t stand being stuck in her own head. It’s amazing what a solid week of sensory deprivation can do, the mind eats itself from the inside out, it’s beautiful to see.” Blackbeard says wistfully inside Sanji’s skull. 

Sanji shuts his eyes and keeps his mouth shut. He doesn’t want to ask about Zoro, to ask what he’s doing to him.

“I’m having fun with Zoro though, he’s stronger than most, the strongest I’ve seen in fact. But that’s the thing with strength, diamonds are strong, but if you hit them in just the right place they turn to dust. Now, I don’t know if you can hear this…” Blackbeard says. There’s a pause and all Sanji can hear is the crackle of the connection and a low, almost inaudibly so, growl. He knows it well, it’s the slight sound that Zoro makes in the bottom of his chest when he’s really REALLY angry. Just the sound of it makes Sanji picture his furious face. Part of him worries that Zoro is mad at him, but he’s almost sure that it’s at Blackbeard. He smiles slightly, if Zoro is angry that means he’s still fighting, he’s not broken yet. 

“Well, Zoro. Don’t you have anything to say to Sanji? I’m sure he’d love to hear your voice.” Blackbeard says gloatingly. There’s a silence but he can still hear Zoro breathing, the stubborn man is refusing to say anything.

“Blackbeard, I’m going to find you and I’m going to kill you. I will watch as the life drains from you and I’m going to enjoy it, assuming that Zoro doesn’t get you first. But you’re going to die for this, I promise you.” Sanji promises, meaning it with every inch of his soul. 

Blackbeard laughs his disgusting laugh and ignores Sanji’s threat, making no acknowledgement that he’s even said a word. 

“Still not got anything to say Zoro? No? Well I’m sure I can make you make some noise.” Blackbeard says lightly. 

There’s a metallic noise then, like something metal being pulled loose, no doubt done for Sanji’s benefit. There’s a scuffling sound and the sound of heavy metal links clinking together, like the sound of someone chained trying to pull away. 

“Less of that.” Blackbeard chides. 

“AH! Get off-” Zoro snaps, only to be drowned out by the metal links clinking louder.

“You know the struggling doesn’t make it better, so come on, surely you have something to say to Sanji?” Blackbeard asks again but Zoro falls silent once more, except for a small growl. 

“Don’t you touch him!” Sanji shouts but Blackbeard simply chuckles. The rest of the room is silent, watching him, horrified at what must be going on through the one side of the conversation that they can hear. He ignores them, he can’t focus on anything else but the voice in his head.

“You’re trying to be so good and so quiet Zoro, just so that Sanji can’t hear you. You see Sanji, Zoro’s biggest weakness; his largest flaw… is you. The thought of you hurting because of him… well… it’s just unbearable. So you’re trying to be strong aren’t you Zoro? But you’re not strong, you’re weak, and I’ll prove it.” Blackbeard taunts them both, making Sanji’s blood run cold. The metal sound reappears, like something being dragged over concrete. 

He hears Zoro suck in a sharp breath then but other than the hiss of Zoro’s sharp pained breathing he doesn’t make a noise. There’s a sound though… it’s… familiar somehow. Sanji searches his brain and with a sense of horror his mind lands on all the time’s he’s been to the butcher for the Baratie and heard the sound of a knife slicing through skin and muscle. Except… there’s no way Blackbeard is making himself a sandwich here, the meat that he’s going to be cutting into is… Zoro.

“No, no don’t, please!” he begs, but it’s no use.

“You know, you have an impressive pain tolerance. I wonder how long I could do this to before you scream, I’m sure Sanji wants to hear that. Which will happen first, will you scream or will I get through do you think?” Blackbeard muses, but Sanji can still hear that horrible cutting sound. 

Zoro draws in a shaking juddering breath, Sanji can hear it hissing around clenched teeth. It seems to stick for a second and there’s a quiet high pitched whine, almost a squeak, the start of a scream that was killed before it truly began. Sanji clasps a hand over his own mouth, not daring to make a sound that could encourage Blackbeard.

Blackbeard laughs quietly to himself and Sanji hears the twist of a knife again, drawing a sharp exhale from Zoro. The man’s breathing is erratic and shaky now, as if he’s only holding on to silence by a hair’s breadth. 

“You know it’s possible, if you’re talented like me, if you keep control of the bleeding that is, to expose so much raw nerve- why, you could skin someone alive if you were so inclined. But if you surrender Zoro, admit that you’re weak and scream and I’ll stop. So which lives out, your mind or your body? This won’t kill you, I promise you that. But I’m not going to stop, not unless you scream.” Blackbeard promises. 

Zoro makes a high, thin noise, his breathing sounds choked. He’s trying not to cry, he doesn’t want to make a noise because he knows that Sanji is listening. Should he hang up? Would that help Zoro? He glances around for the phone but Cindry has it held tightly in her fingers. 

“I won’t let you do this, if he’s trying to be quiet for me then I’ll just hang up and it won’t matter if he screams or not!” Sanji threatens, reaching for the phone.

“If you stop listening Sanji, I won’t stop even if he does scream. And I’ll keep recording, and I’ll send it to you. I’ll let him scream until his throat won’t take it any more and all because you couldn’t stand to even listen.” Blackbeard says sharply, stilling Sanji’s hand.

“No, please- don’t-” Zoro begs, his voice uneven and ragged. Sanji doesn’t know if Zoro can hear him or not, he doesn’t know if Zoro is begging him not to hang up or Blackbeard not to continue but he’s begging and oh god…

“Well frankly Zoro that’s just rude, I was in the middle of talking there. I’ve gone through all this trouble of making you make some noise and you refuse, only to interrupt me when I’m talking, it’s… salt in the wound if you will.” Blackbeard huffs, interrupting Zoro in fake offence.

There’s a sound, almost like gravel, and Sanji knows already that it’s rock salt – it has to be. He hears the sharp inhale as Zoro realises what’s about to happen.

“No, no no! Don’t!” Sanji yells, but the sound continues. Zoro screams, the sound rattling around inside the confines of Sanji’s head. It’s short, only a second or two at most, but full of pain and agony and burnt into Sanji’s memory forever. 

“There it is.” Blackbeard practically purrs. There’s a thump then, like Zoro’s been dropped on the ground, or part of him anyway, like his arm or his legs. Then a slow sound of movement, Sanji just pictures Zoro curling in on himself in pain. Sanji can hear Zoro choking on his own breath, it sounds like he’s trying not to actually cry but then… there’s this whine and then a sob. It’s small and quiet and so impossibly sad, it’s simply the most broken sound he’s ever heard from any human being. It’s pain, but it’s not physical, it’s pure emotional agony and hearing it wounds Sanji far more than the scream ever did. 

Zoro is starting to break and so is he. 

“Thanks for listening Sanji, and you can keep Cindry, she’s no use to me any more. Consider her… a souvenir.” Blackbeard laughs and disconnects the call. 

Sanji sits there numbly, his mind still needs to catch up to all that he just heard inside his own head. Zoro’s scream and his sobs are still running over and over in his mind, and endless loop of pain that cuts Sanji a little deeper with each repetition. This is his fault, he did this, he put Zoro there, he opened his mouth in court, he wasn’t strong enough. It’s him, it’s all him. 

“Sanji?” Ace’s hand on his shoulder startles him back into the kitchen with a startled breath. Everyone is staring at him with worried eyes. He locks eyes with the concerned looking fire starter crouched in front of him and his lip trembles.

He’s doing everything that he can but it’s not enough, not as long as Zoro hurts like this.

“I need- I need to get him!” He yells, launching himself from the floor with speed. He’s not faster than Ace though, who grabs the back of his shirt and hauls him back down to the floor. Ace slams him down, shoves his shoulders down and pins him with his bulk, his knee in Sanji’s hip preventing him from levering himself up. 

“Let me go! Blackbeard is cutting into him like meat, let me GO!” He screams, thrashing against Ace. 

“You’re not going anywhere! Don’t be so goddamn stupid! You’re falling for the bait, again! If you go there it’ll be a hundred times worse for Zoro, you know that.” Ace shouts in his face, his eyes burning with determination. Sanji weakens, tears streaming freely from his eyes. 

“Zoro needs you, so don’t you dare let him down.” Ace snaps and pulls back off of him, his look is a clear challenge. Will he be selfish and leave, to try to rescue Zoro out of stupidity and weakness or will he be strong and stay? He sits up and wraps his arms around his knees as he tries to suppress the choking sob in his throat.

Ace’s hand is on his shoulder again now, gentler this time though. The fire-fist’s eyes are honest and sincere as he speaks.

“Blackbeard will pay, he’ll die and it’ll be slow and painful. I’ll burn every inch of him, I’ll burn his lungs until he can’t breathe. He will pay. That’s a promise. We just… we need to be smart here.” Ace vows, his clenched fist bursting into flame. 

“We’ll get him out, we need a plan. Usopp, get planning!” Luffy orders, pointing across the kitchen at the long-nose. 

“I’m going to go and code a key.” Usopp nods firmly and leaves the room. 

“I have a few investigative journalists I need to talk to.” Robin adds and stands up. 

“I’m going to get the floor plans to his house. When we do rescue Zoro, I want to know my way around.” Nami says with a determined expression on her face as she strides out of the room. It seems that Zoro’s pain is spurring everyone into action, everyone but him. 

His eyes slide to the blank eyed Cindry again, Zeff is pulling her to her feet and she’s obeying but there’s really no life in her. In an unusual display of tenderness he brushes Cindry’s hair out of her face and mumbles something to himself that Sanji can’t quite catch. When he turns back the old cook’s eyes are distant, as if remembering something painful. 

“What are we going to do with her? He said he doesn’t want her back, I want to help but…” Sanji says looking at her worriedly. 

“She’s probably beyond help, from us at least.” Ace finishes for him. Sanji nods in agreement but also he doesn’t trust her, who knows what else Blackbeard programmed the poor woman to do?

“Ivankov!” He gasps as the thought occurs to him. If anyone could help that weird okama could! He pulls out his phone and calls the man, making sure to keep the call outside his head this time, he’s not sure he can stand any other voices in his brain right now. 

The phone rings a few times before someone picks up.

“Hello, revolution.” A slightly bored woman’s voice says over the phone.

“Hello! Yes, can I speak to Ivankov please? It’s Sanji, Sanji-” he cuts himself off then because, actually, he’s not Spandam’s son anymore and so he’s no longer Sanji Prince. What’s the protocol in this situation for not having a last name any more?

“Just… Sanji.” He finishes lamely. Crap, is he gonna need a new last name now? He supposes he could take Zeff’s but… that’d be a little weird, and he certainly wouldn’t do that without asking. 

“The one who’s getting sued?” The voice on the other end asks with some interest.

“Yeah.” He says with a nod.

“One moment.” The voice says and puts him on hold. He watches Cindry warily out of the corner of his eye but she’s just standing there like a mannequin, her chest rising and falling as she breathes the only clue that she’s alive at all. 

“Curly-chan? Is that you?” Iva’s voice booms down the phone so loudly that Sanji actually holds it away from his ear for a moment. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Listen… Blackbeard keeps sending me… never mind- I… I’ve got a mate here, not mine. Blackbeard has had her and she seems completely… dead. Inside I mean, she’s still breathing but that’s about it. I know you deal with slavery cases and that’s what this is really so do you know anyone that could help? I can’t just leave her like this.” He tries to explain.

“One of Blackbeard’s victims? Yeah, I’ll be right with you, I’ve got a doctor that might be able to help. Are you at that restaurant?” Ivankov asks, his tone serious now. 

“Yeah.” Sanji confirms.

“Stay there, and… keep an eye on her.” The man says to him and hangs up. 

Sanji puts the phone back in his pocket and sighs. He looks around the room, Vivi and Igaram have left with Nami, leaving only Franky, Luffy, Ace and Zeff in the room with him and Cindry. 

“I’ve never seen anyone look like that, it’s like she’s not even here.” Franky says quietly from the table. 

“He’s had her a week longer than he’s had Zoro, I’m worried that Zoro might be running out of time.” Sanji admits quietly as he watches the impassive woman. 

“Zoro’s strong, but… I’m not sure I want to test just how strong he is.” Ace agrees with a nod as he too gazes at Cindry, clearly wondering as they all are, whether when they get Zoro back he’ll be like this. 

“Zoro used to talk about it sometimes, so did Nami.” Luffy says in a quiet tone that has them all staring at him. 

Luffy’s hat is low over his eyes and his expression is sombre. Sanji’s not sure that he’s ever seen Luffy so serious or detached as this. 

“He said that they brought them back to the institute every so often, that they let the people who loved them go to them, to try to coax some life back into them. They never managed it and Zoro said it was just as awful watching them try as it was seeing them come back like that. It always made Nami cry when it happened, and it really scared Zoro.” Luffy continues quietly. 

“I don’t know what Zoro’s going through right now, but I know he wouldn’t want to put us through that, definitely not Nami. So he won’t let that happen to him, I know it.” Luffy says with some confidence. 

“The last thing Zoro should be worrying about is us!” Sanji exclaims in horror. 

“Yeah, but it’s just what the idiot will be doing.” Ace says with a morbid laugh and a shake of his head. 

Sanji grits his teeth as Blackbeard’s words echo around his head, that he is Zoro’s biggest weakness. Ace is right, it’d be just like the stupid marimo to be worrying about him when he’s getting hurt. 

“I need a smoke.” He mutters and slips outside. 

 

The sound of the city washes over him as he smokes, he wants nothing else but to whisk Zoro away from Blackbeard and run off to somewhere that he’ll be safe, but he can’t just do that. He wishes so badly that he could be in court today, at least then he could be doing something that would help Zoro, instead of just standing around being useless. 

He’s on cigarette number four of the day when Ivankov and another man show up. The new guy is skinny, not a dissimilar build from Sanji himself, but he’s covered with tattoos and frankly, he looks a little sinister. He also can’t help but notice the large sword at the man’s side, his brain automatically flicks to Zoro and thinks that the other man would probably like to fight with another swordsman. 

“Where is she? I’m a doctor.” The new guy asks Sanji abruptly. Iva rolls his eyes and smacks the new guy around the back of his furry-hatted head.

“Manners Law. Sanji, this is Trafalgar Law, he is, as he says, a doctor. He’s dealt with Blackbeard’s victims before, he might be able to help yours.” Ivankov says introducing them. The doctor gives him an unimpressed “well?” expression so Sanji jerks his head for the two of them to follow.

“Cindry’s in here, Blackbeard sent her here to deliver a message to me.” Sanji explains, opening the door to the kitchen. When they get in there only Ace and Zeff are left watching Cindry. Ace nods to him as they enter and leaves to give them some space.

“Why’s he sending you messages?” Law questions with a raised eyebrow as he puts his bag down on the table by Cindry.

“To torture him.” Zeff answers for him. Sanji’s eyes widen, hearing what Zoro went through is certainly damn near the most awful thing he’s ever experienced but what’s happening to Zoro is torture, not what’s happening to him.

“So he has your love then, he’s got Zoro.” Ivankov says quietly. Sanji glances up at the bigger man and nods with regret. 

“You are aware then, that he has never had a mate that he hasn’t killed or broken? Your mate isn’t exactly facing good odds if he has him.” Law says, avoiding the use of Blackbeard’s name, probably for Cindry’s benefit as he snaps on sterile gloves. 

Law turns his attention to Cindry and smiles gently at her.

“Hello, my name is Trafalgar Law, I’m a doctor. Can you tell me your name?” Law asks gently, as if talking to a frightened child. Sanji’s mouth opens, he already told Law her name but he shuts it again as he realises that it’s a test, to see if she knows her own name still. 

Cindry remains silent and stares straight ahead at nothing. 

Law narrates his actions and asks gentle questions as he goes about his work; he mends any wounds that he finds and tests to see if he can get any response out of her. She doesn’t flinch when Law pricks her with a needle, nor when he touches her injuries. She doesn’t react when Law attaches sticky monitors to her chest and switches on a heart rate monitoring device. 

“Well?” Ivankov asks after a while. 

“She’s unresponsive, as you can see. Not unusual, I don’t know if there’s anything of her still in there but I can see if she responds to the last test.” Law says softly. 

“Do you have any windowless rooms in this place with a door and a light in them?” Law asks, looking up at Sanji.

“The upstairs bathroom doesn’t have any windows, why?” he frowns at the odd questions.

“Lead the way, come with me Cindry.” Law says instead of answering and takes Cindry’s hand, pulling her after Sanji.

“You have to understand about his powers Sanji, his devil’s fruit power is a darkness power. Absolute power over darkness, he spreads it everywhere, he can use it to attack people, to restrain them, anything he wants. He’s incredibly strong.” Iva explains as the four of them climb the narrow stairs. 

“Specifically he can absorb people into it, he can swallow them up into the darkness inside himself, literally absorbing them. It’s complete sensory deprivation.” Law adds, keeping a close eye on Cindry’s reaction to their conversation or lack thereof. 

“He said that he kept her in sensory deprivation for a whole week, I didn’t know what he meant but…” Sanji trails off. 

Law’s expression tells him that a week isn’t good news. The four of them arrive at the bathroom and Sanji opens the door for them, flicking the light on as he does so. Law leads them inside and sets Cindry in the middle of the room and looks down at the device in his hand again.

“Her heart rate is seventy now, it’s pretty low but she does look quite physically fit.” Law says and exits the room. 

Puzzled Sanji follows him and Ivankov out of the room. Law leans past Sanji flicks the light off and shuts the door, he pulls his coat off and throws it at the underside of the door, blocking out all light. Sanji opens his mouth to protest but Law holds up a finger to his lips in a shush gesture. 

Their eyes all fall on the heart rate device in the doctor’s hands. The number that was at seventy is rapidly climbing, passing eighty, then ninety before it starts climbing into the hundreds. It’s absolutely dark in there and Cindry is panicking.

“She’s still in there, she still feels fear. I can help her.” Law smiles and picks his coat up, pulling the door open and flicking the light on. Cindry is still in the same place but her breathing is a little faster and her skin a little paler. Her eyes, instead of being blank straight ahead are staring up at the glaring bare bulb of their bathroom, fixated on the light..

She’s still trembling when Law puts his hand on her arm and gently guides her out of the room. 

“I’ll take her to the hospital, I’ll see you later Iva, thanks for calling Sanji.” Law nods and leaves with Cindry. 

“Will she be okay? Can Law make her better?” Sanji asks quietly, wondering just how much help Zoro is going to need when he gets back. Ivankov looks over to him with pitying eyes that Sanji can’t bear to meet, he lights cigarette number five as an excuse for a distraction. 

“Law has brought some victims back a little, they can talk and hold some conversation on a good day. But as soon as it gets dark they fall apart, they couldn’t ever live on their own. Unless you manage to get him out of there before Blackbeard is done with him, you’re never going to get your Zoro back, even if you have his body.” Iva says gently, his hand on Sanji’s shoulder. 

Sanji fights to keep the tears from spilling over his lids, but it’s hard. 

“This is entirely my fault, it’s my fault that Zoro is there, I can never forgive myself for this.” He says shaking. Iva looks at him with a sad tilt of his giant head.

“Did you personally give Zoro to Blackbeard?” he challenges. Sanji looks up with a scowl, he may well have done.

“No, but-” he begins.

“Then shut up, blaming yourself will get you and Zoro nowhere. I won’t have it.” Iva declares, clapping a hand over Sanji’s mouth. Luckily his cigarette was in his hand at the time and not his mouth. 

The blue haired okama’s hand falls after a moment with a sigh. 

“When you said that Blackbeard said that she delivered a message… and that you spoke to him…?” Iva asks, trailing off. 

“She had a phone, she put a call from Blackbeard into my head. He made me listen to him torturing Zoro, making him scream. I can never forget… I’m going to hear that forever.” Sanji answers, wrapping his arms around himself as Zoro’s scream echoes through Sanji’s mind again. 

Ivankov’s large face softens then and he pulls a small device out of his boot, it’s an MP3 player. 

“I have something for you, I was going to show it to your lawyer friend first, to help with your case, but maybe you need to hear it now.” Ivankov says as he switches it on. 

“I record all the calls that go in and out of revolution, so that we can back up any claims we have to make in court. I’ll… leave you alone with this.” Iva says, pressing it to the space behind Sanji’s ear and then into his hand. The recording starts and plays inside Sanji’s head. 

There’s a ringing in his ears, but it’s a telephone ring. 

“Huh? What? Who is this?” Zoro’s voice suddenly fills his head, his speech slurred with sleep. Sanji gasps as memories of Zoro’s warm sleeping body fill his mind, brought about by the sense memory of Zoro’s tired voice.

“Zoro, it’s Ivankov, from the Revolution.” Iva’s voice cuts in.

“It’s- fuck, four in the morning. Why are you calling me? How did you even get this number anyway?” Zoro demands grumpily inside Sanji’s head.

“I wanted to ask you about today, your master-” Ivankov begins.

“Sanji, his name is Sanji. And he’s not my master.” Zoro corrects. 

“…Is he there with you? Are you saying this because you have to? If he’s there just say no, but if he’s genuinely asleep say so.” Ivankov asks, his tone concerned.

“No, he’s not here. He’s in his own room asleep because it’s four in the goddamned morning. I already told you today what he’s like, if you’re not going to believe me then you can just get lost.” Zoro snaps irritably. Ivankov falls silent then, a quiet which stretches for quite a few moments.

“I hope you’re right about him. I really don’t want to help him out if he’s just trying to take over his father’s company.” Iva says warily.

“Hardly, Sanji wants nothing to do with that company, he’s ashamed by it. The last thing he wants to do is take it over, I told you. Give him a chance to prove to you that he’s a good guy, he really is.” Zoro says, his voice gentle and affectionate. 

“You love him.” Iva says, it’s a statement, not a question and one said in slight awe. 

“More than anyone.” Zoro says softly, with a smile to his tone.

“I guess I’ll see, won’t I?” Ivankov states simply.

“Sanji won’t let you down, you can rely on him.” Zoro says warmly.

“Sorry to disturb your sleep, goodnight.” Iva says and hangs up. The recording finishes and Sanji lets out the breath that he hadn’t realised that he was holding. 

“I love you Zoro. I’m getting you out of there, I swear it.” Sanji vows, clutching at the MP3 player in his hand which proves that even Zoro didn’t think he was out to destroy the institute. Although Zoro knew better, he was smarter than to say that over the phone, or maybe he thought that Sanji couldn’t go through with it. Either way it would help in court, and the quicker he won, the quicker Zoro could be rescued. No way was he going to let Zoro end up like Cindry, no way in hell. 

He stays on the floor for some time, clutching at the key around his neck once again, one that could open the padlock that was supposed to be at Zoro’s throat but even then couldn’t open his collar. He squeezes it tight enough in his hand for it to start cutting indentations into his palm. Zeff’s old calloused hand on the top of his head startles him out of his thoughts. 

“Oi, eggplant. Your cousins and an eight foot skeleton are here to see you.” Zeff says quietly. 

“My… cousins?” Sanji blinks in surprise as he stands up. He follows Zeff down the stairs to see his three cousins and Brook standing in the kitchen looking up at him. 

“Sanji!” Bonney exclaims happily, pulling him into a hug.

“Bonney, what are you doing here?” he asks in surprise. The pink haired girl pulls back and grins cockily at him.

“Well, whilst you and Spandam have been dragging each other over the coals in court some of us have been rallying people to your cause.” She grins at him, broad and beaming.

“You ought to open this place up tonight, everyone’s going to be coming out to support Sanji, or at least to say that they hate Spandam.” Perona says to Zeff with a smile. 

“You would be surprised how many allies you have Sanji, we’ve all been talking to people and so many people are unhappy with how Spandam treats people, he’s scarred more lives than just yours.” Brook says softly.

Mouth hanging slack from surprise he looks around the four of them, unsure of what to say, eventually he can only manage:

“You… you know about the test though right? That Spandam isn’t my father? You’re not actually my cousins.” He says in surprise.

“Bullshit, family is family! Even if you did have the good taste to not actually be related to Spandam!” Bonney laughs, slapping him painfully on the arm, her eyes bright with laughter.

“Besides, we’ve known that you weren’t Spandam’s son for years, I mean, you look nothing like any of us.” Coby smiles shyly at him. Sanji blinks owlishly in surprise, they knew? He looks at the others; they’re all giving him looks like he’s some kind of moron.

“Well why did no one tell me?!” he finally demands, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“We thought you knew!” Perona exclaims exasperatedly, her gaze flicking quickly to Zeff and back. 

“Tch, dumbass.” Bonney says affectionately, her arm wrapping around his shoulders. 

“So come on cuz, get cooking!” Bonney laughs, slapping him on the shoulder. Sanji looks to Zeff and grins. That they can do. 

By that evening the kitchen is alive and bustling, and the front of the Baratie is filled with rich people drawing attention and offering Sanji words of support and encouragement. It’s enough of a social gathering to get the attention of the press too, which will no doubt upset Spandam and probably make his life more difficult. He knows full well just how much Spandam relies on the tacit approval and investment of other rich people, enough of them withdrawing their support will seriously worry him and perhaps even mess his finances up. 

This is another step on the road to freeing Zoro. He understands a little more just how important it is that he do so now, he sees just how much Zoro has to lose. But Blackbeard is a fool, it’s just making him more determined to win and to win fast and by any means necessary. Spandam had better be ready on Monday because he’s going to be serving up a slice of pain for him in court.


	22. Chapter 22

“Please state your name for the court please.” The judge says, looking down at the girl in the witness box.

 

“Perona Prince.” His cousin (DNA be damned!) says primly, with a flick of her perfect pink hair.

 

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?” The huge bear-eared barrister asks, holding out a bible in his hands.

 

“I do.” Perona nods and sits down.

 

“Perona, how would you describe Sanji?” Igaram asks casually, Lucci raises an eyebrow, clearly considering this a frivolous line of questioning, Sanji smiles knowing otherwise.

 

“Uhm, he’s kind, a little sensitive maybe. He’s really fun to annoy, his looks so cute when he’s all red and angry!” Perona giggles in amusement, Sanji rolls his eyes.

 

“But you like him?” Igaram confirms. Perona nods happily, making Sanji smile.

 

“Did the results of the paternity test surprise you? It must be shocking to find out that your cousin is not your cousin.” The curly haired lawyer asks, Sanji smiles, knowing the answer full well from Saturday.

 

“Nope, we all knew. Besides, Sanji will always be family to me, you don’t need paper to tell you that.” She chirps.

 

“When you say that you _all_ knew-” Igaram starts, but Lucci leaps to his feet.

 

“I object!” Lucci exclaims dramatically.

 

“To…?” The judge asks, raising her eyebrows.

 

“That’s a leading question, your honour!” Lucci says firmly.

 

“Overruled. Perona, who knew that Sanji wasn’t Spandam’s son?” The judge questions. Perona pokes her tongue out at Lucci in childish spite before answering.

 

“I and my siblings all did, a bunch of the staff did too – all of Spandam’s staff certainly did. Me and Coby overheard Spandam yelling to his lawyer Lucci about it one day. He was worried that Sanji was going to find out.” Perona answers smugly. Lucci and Spandam look decidedly uncomfortable as she says that, the judge’s eyes narrow as she glares at the two of them.

 

“Why do you think he was worried that Sanji was going to find out?” Igaram asks with a smug smile.

 

“Because he was blackmailing Sanji to be there, Spandam doesn’t have any other kids to be heirs and he doesn’t want us or my mother or uncle to take over the company, he wants to keep it in his hands and he could manipulate Sanji into doing what he wanted. If Sanji knew he wouldn’t have been in that position.” Perona explains calmly.

 

“Me and my sister don’t want anything to do with the company so we didn’t care, but Spandam has something over Sanji, that’s why he always does what he’s told. Why else would he have come back after all those years? Spandam made him.” She declares with a glare at Spandam.

 

“You have no proof of any of this!” Lucci declares angrily.

 

“You have no proof that it’s not true, besides, why would I lie? If anything I stand to gain from Sanji being disowned and thrown out of the company, it means more of a share for me.” Perona points out.

 

A stare down occurs between Lucci and Perona, Sanji doesn’t even need to look to see just how this is going to go, Perona could out stare anything. He’s glad he told Igaram to call her to the stand today; she’s done plenty to beef up his defence.

 

“No further questions your honour.” Igaram smiles and looks to Lucci, the lawyer is clearly weighing up whether he has anything he can rip Perona’s statement apart with without giving her more room to discredit his own arguments.

 

“No questions your honour.” Lucci growls, apparently he doesn’t have anything to say. Sanji grins along with Perona who daintily hops out of the witness box, her body language and her expression smug.

 

He doesn’t know who Igaram is calling to the stand next, though when he calls it, it’s a name he recognises but only vaguely.

 

Sanji is almost embarrassed that it takes him a few seconds to recognise the fucking talking reindeer that walks up to the stand, seriously, how many reindeers talk to him? Doctor Chopper sits in the witness stand looking nervous and fretful, casting frequent worried glances to Spandam who is eyeballing him threateningly.

 

He puts a shaky hoof on a copy of the bible held out by a big bear-like man and swears to tell the truth. He seems so… different from when Sanji met him first.

 

He’d been so bored that day, his father had dragged him to the institute and told him on no uncertain terms that he was to have a mate and that was that. He’d had to fill out the longest goddamn computer questionnaire of his entire life that covered everything from opinions on politics, exercise, fashion, music and more. Half of the thing was devoted to sex and attraction, asking him what kind of person he preferred over another looks wise, showing him pictures on a screen asking him to choose one person over another as the machine whittled down his tastes to some formula. They’d asked him about sex, about kinks and fetishes that he’d never even heard of and, frankly, never wanted to again!

 

But then this sweet little kid doctor with his big eyes, tiny antlers and furry face had come in to see him. They’d just talked, they’d discussed some of his answers and his attitude to things for a bit but after that they’d just settled into natural conversation. He liked the kid. At the end of the session Chopper had given him a long careful look before asking something very quietly.

 

“Are you aware that not everyone that we have here is like they are in the adverts?” Chopper had asked gently.

 

“I don’t think anyone you have here is really like they are in the adverts for this place, everyone’s gonna be nervous at least, they’re being thrown together with a total stranger with no idea what they’re getting. I’m not exactly enthused about this either.” He’d answered, blowing a stream of smoke up to the ceiling.

 

“Well some people are even less happy about it than that.” Chopper had said softly, making Sanji look at him in surprise. But he had been looking off to the side, staring out of the window pensively as if deciding on something.

 

“I have someone here who matches up with almost all of the things that it seems you would like, but he’s… not exactly easy to be with sometimes. He can be abrasive and stubborn, he’s far from refined but he’s…” Chopper had trailed off with a frown.

 

“Hah, that sounds like how my old man talks about me, although, with more cursing.” He’d laughed. Chopper had looked at him with surprise and asked if he meant Spandam, Sanji had laughed his ass off at that and explained all about his fucked up relationship with Zeff, how they fought all the time but he knew that the old man still cared. The more he had talked the more Chopper had smiled, and eventually Chopper had beamed at him and said that he thought he’d be able to do something for him and said goodbye.

 

Only a day or two later he’d been standing before Zoro whose eyes were terrified and angry as he clicked the padlock at his throat shut. He’d not known then just what he’d been letting himself in for.

 

Sanji wonders what it was in that interaction that made Chopper think that he’d be good for Zoro, he’s not sure that he was the right choice, not with what was happening to Zoro right now. Chopper had clearly been trying to protect Zoro, but he’d seen something in him worth trusting, what was it?

 

“Doctor Chopper, tell us what you do for my client.” Lucci asks coldly, snapping Sanji back to reality as the lawyer stares down the clearly unnerved little reindeer.

 

“I- I’m the institute’s doctor. I deal with injuries or illness in the mates under my care, but I also do evaluations of them and of clients, I try to find a good match.” Chopper answers nervously.

 

“So you evaluated Sanji.” Lucci deduces, flicking a look Sanji’s way. Sanji raises an eyebrow, where is this going?

 

“Y-yes.” Chopper nods, his voice shaking.

 

“And how did he seem to you? How would you describe his relationship with his father?” Lucci asks, his voice like silk and steel. Ah, Sanji sees where this is going now.

 

“It… seemed like a fraught relationship. Sanji didn’t want to be there, he didn’t want a mate. But you can see from how he reacted to Zoro being taken away that-” Chopper starts to explain quickly but Lucci cuts him off.

 

“I’m not interested in the mate, I’m interested in his relationship with his father. Do you think that he thought of Spandam as his father, or do you think that he knew that Spandam wasn’t his father?” Lucci snaps out, his eyes cold. Sanji winces, geez, even he knows a false dichotomy when he sees one, those choices weren’t opposite and exclusive. In fact he knew for a fact that he had neither thought of Spandam as his father but didn’t know that he genuinely wasn’t. This wasn’t a “was it left or right” kind of question where it was either or. If Chopper was smart he’d point that out.

 

“H-he definitely didn’t think of Spandam as his father.” Chopper stammers out.

 

“So then in your opinion he knew, one further question, do you think that Sanji would lie?” Lucci asks, ignoring the fact that he’d effectively tricked Chopper. Sanji winces, Chopper was apparently very smart with medicine but not too bright about people.

 

“Hey wait- that’s not what I-” Chopper protests, but to no avail as Lucci spins on his heel and practically pounces on the witness box, his hands bracketing the small furry doctor in and terrifying him.

 

“YES OR NO! Would he lie?!” Lucci roars in the doctor’s face.

 

“Y-yes.” Chopper answers meekly, his bottom lip trembling.

 

Lucci’s grin is sick as he pulls away with satisfaction and purrs out a response of “no more questions” to the judge as he slinks back to his seat, a self satisfied smirk on his face.

 

“God, he’s just a kid.” Sanji mutters in disgust, but a murmur of agreement spreads around the room, so he must have said it a little louder than he thought. Igaram gets up gently, pours a drink and quietly walks to the witness box with the sniffling doctor in it. He’s so small that he’s actually sitting on a few thick books to be seen over the edge of it.

 

“Are you okay Doctor? Drink this.” Igaram says gently, offering the tearful reindeer the drink. Trembling hooves take it from him and the doctor drinks and wipes his eyes.

 

“When you said that Sanji would lie, what do you mean?” Igaram asks softly, returning to the bench and standing there.

 

The doctor fiddles with the hem of his coat for a moment or two before answering.

 

“Everybody lies, it’s just a thing that happens. Even when we try to be honest all the time we lie. We do it to protect others feelings, or ourselves, sometimes we do it to manipulate people. Everybody lies.” Chopper says meekly.

 

“And Sanji?” Igaram prompts. The doctor’s watery eyes rise and rest on Sanji for a moment.

 

“I think that Sanji would definitely lie to protect someone he loved or to spare someone’s feelings, white lies certainly. But he’d be more inclined to be honest out of principle when it came to talking about himself. He’s very focused on other people.” Chopper says quietly. Sanji considers that statement for a moment, he supposes that it’s fair.

 

“Do you think that he knew that Spandam wasn’t his father?” Igaram asks.

 

Chopper stays silent, but Sanji doesn’t miss the terrified look that Chopper sends to Spandam. Sanji looks over and sees his ex-father glaring a hole in Chopper’s head, Sanji knows that look, it’s the look that says ‘I’ve got something over you and if you don’t behave you’ll wish you had’. It’s the look Spandam used to give him when he wasn’t obeying Spandam’s every command, the kind of look that if he ignored used to result in the Baratie getting a surprise health code visit from an inspector with a surprisingly expensive new car.

 

“I-” Chopper tries, his voice catching.

 

The silence stretches on, the eyes of everyone in court on Chopper as his mouth opens and closes mutely.

 

“Doctor, please answer the question.” Igaram presses gently.

 

Chopper shakes his little head and squeezes his eyes shut, tears leaking out and matting his fur. Sanji leans forward, his heart aching in sympathy, he’s felt like this. When Zoro asked him to risk everything and come with him, he felt like this, he wanted so badly to do what he _wanted_ but simply couldn’t. Chopper is in this situation and he can bet that he knows just who put him there, he glances at Spandam to see the man glaring daggers at the poor kid. Sanji grits his teeth, feeling his legs instinctually tense and his heels dig into the floor as he represses the urge to kick.

 

“I can’t!” Chopper gasps, shaking his head sharply.

 

“Why?” Igaram asks softly. Spandam’s glare only intensifies and Chopper’s panic continues to rise.

 

“I can’t tell you that!” the doctor repeats with a sob. Spandam turns to Lucci and whispers something, Lucci pulls a small stack of stapled together papers out of his briefcase and hands them to Spandam who places them on the desk. Spandam rests his hand on it and looks at Chopper significantly. Sanji isn’t the only one to notice this and the judge is eyeing Spandam critically.

 

“You are under oath Doctor, tell us if you think Sanji knew that Spandam wasn’t his father.” The judge reminds Chopper.

 

“Please, don’t- does it matter? Can’t I just go? Please?” Chopper pleads the judge.

 

“No. Tell us, or we’ll throw you in jail for years for perjury.” The judge threatens, her eyes narrowing.

 

“But- but I’m a doctor! My patients need me, the mates need me, I have to keep my job!” he pleads with wide tearful eyes.

 

“Then answer the question.” Igaram states simply. Chopper looks tearfully to the judge who has no mercy.

 

“Your profession gives you no exceptions, you either answer the question – and answer truthfully, or you go to jail. I appreciate that you’re a doctor but the institute can find another, your patients can survive without you. So answer.” The judge says.

 

“You don’t understand, it needs to be me there for them, the doctor before-” Chopper pleads, his voice catching.

 

“Yes?” The judge prompts. Spandam shakes his head slowly and Chopper falls mute.

 

“Doctor, I’m getting tired of this, answer the question.” The judge snaps irritably.

 

Chopper looks bleakly from the paper under Spandam’s hand to the judge and back again, he looks cornered and trapped. His bottom lip trembles before he bursts out into a wail and a stream of words.

 

“Oh god, he didn’t know! Not at all. I suspected that he wasn’t Spandam’s son and I knew he was only there because Spandam was threatening the man who saved Sanji’s life, he threatened the restaurant Sanji used to work at and everyone he loved. As long as he did what Spandam said he could keep them, that was the deal.” Chopper sobs.

 

“Sanji didn’t want to destroy the company, it was the only thing guaranteeing the safety of the people he cared about! I just- I meet so many people and I _try_ , I do my best to make sure that everyone gets to a good home, with someone who’ll respect them, but the institute doesn’t turn anyone away so anyone who can pay gets a mate, no matter how much of a sadist they are! And I do all that I can to prepare the mates for what’s going to happen and to fix them up when I can, I try to make the best out of a bad situation for them, that’s all I can do! The doctor before me used to _hurt_ them and if all I can do is to keep them from that then I have to do it, but he _didn’t know. He didn’t know ANYTHING_.” Chopper bawls into his little hooves.

 

The intake of breath from the gallery and the jury at once practically drains the oxygen from the room and is only broken by Spandam tearing the piece of paper under his hand in two. Chopper’s broken sobbing echoes around the room until he’s taken out by a bailiff.

 

Spandam’s face is livid and Lucci looks like he could chew through steel right now, but all Sanji feels is sad for Chopper. The little doctor had kept Zoro back from people for years after he was eligible to be mated off, trying to protect him and find someone who could handle his personality and give as good back. The little doctor had probably saved Zoro’s life countless times over, after all, hadn’t he been the doctor at the institute when Zoro got cut in half by Mihawk’s blade? Was it Chopper who had patched Zoro back together body and mind when all he wanted to do was scream his lungs raw when he thought Nami had died?

 

“I think… I think that’s enough for today. Dismissed.” The judge says quietly and bangs her gavel. She slips off of her chair and disappears out of the back of the court room.

 

Sanji rises from his chair and exits into the court’s lobby, he spots Chopper but keeps slightly out of sight, making an excuse to fiddle with rolling a cigarette should anyone ask him.

 

“Please, Lord Spandam, I didn’t have any choice! Please don’t-” Chopper begs, reaching towards Spandam. The man looks coldly at the little doctor through his leather mask before kicking him and pinning him to the ground with a boot. Sanji winces, he remembers being that small and trapped under that heel, it never felt good.

 

“Consider yourself fired, I can think of a few people that I could give your job to, but while we interview I’m sure Cabaji can fill in your place for a while. He’ll like that.” Spandam hisses angrily, shoves Chopper away with his boot and stalks out of the building.

 

Sanji leans into the shadow and lets Spandam storm angrily by without noticing him, being invisible to his father was a well perfected life skill born out of necessity. Once Spandam has passed, Sanji leans back out and observes the small doctor picking himself up with a sniffle, Sanji bites his lip.

 

“Hey,” He calls out, making Chopper look over to him. He wants to thank Chopper, both for saving him in court and for all that he did for Zoro, but there are no words to express that level of gratitude, they just don’t exist.

 

“Do you… want dinner?” He offers instead. Chopper looks at him for a long sad moment before nodding silently.

 

 

They’re barely inside the back of the Baratie before Usopp hurls himself headlong at Sanji, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him excitedly, disorienting Sanji.

 

“IT’S DONE! IT’S DONE, IT’S- who’s that?” Usopp trails off, looking down at Chopper from where he stands frozen with his hands tight on Sanji’s shoulders. Sanji opens his mouth to explain but isn’t given a chance.

 

“CHOPPER!” Nami and Vivi shriek in unison, flinging themselves at the furball and nearly knocking Sanji and Usopp over in the process. Goddamnit, is everyone in this building just waiting by the door for him to walk in and hurl themselves at just anyone who comes through the door?

 

The two men stare in confusion as Nami and Vivi fawn all over the little doctor, hugging him, kissing his little nose and rubbing their faces in his soft fur. Lucky little bastard.

 

“Vivi told me once that they all feel like this for Chopper, he kept them all as safe as he could, most of them owe him a great deal.” Igaram says quietly at Sanji’s ear. Sanji looks up at the lawyer in surprise and wonders just whether Igaram had planned this or not.

 

“He’s the institute’s doctor, or was, Spandam just fired him for answering question honestly in court.” Sanji explains for Usopp.

 

“Is he cool?” Usopp asks with squinted eyes, like they’re in some goddamned gang or something (Usopp probably thinks that they are). Sanji decides not to answer that dumbass question.

 

“Sanji, it’s ready, Usopp has the code ready!” Nami exclaims, looking up at him from Chopper’s side and affording him a pleasant gaze down her shirt.

 

Usually that would distract him but the mental image of a bunch of ones and zeros flying through the air and popping open Zoro’s collar and freeing him is just too distracting. Zoro was chained up by his collar and if he could get free from it, he could escape, he could come home. He could have Zoro back again, he could keep him safe, he could feel him in his arms. Sanji closes his eyes for a split second and Zoro’s gold flecked eyes flash before him in a smile, perfect lips curving up into a conspiratorial grin as the feeling of smooth tanned skin slides under Sanji’s fingers.

 

He forces his eyes open, shoving aside the memories and effects of his imagination, all of it will pale when he has Zoro back with him.

 

“When can we release it?” He asks, severely hoping that the answer is now.

 

“Tonight, I’ll sneak into the institute once it gets dark. Usopp has the code on a memory stick that I can just plug in and run, Zoro’s is the first collar on there followed right by Vivi’s- if hers pops open we know Zoro’s will have.” Nami states, her voice all business as she stands up with a serious expression on her face.

 

“But- Nami-san, surely I should be the one to-” he starts to protest but Nami cuts him off.

 

“No, you’ve never broken into there, Zoro and I used to break in and out all the time. I can get in and out without being seen and that’s what we need.” Nami states sternly.

 

“They’ve put armed guards in there, just this week they shot a mate who got too close to the wall. Nami, if they catch you they’ll kill you.” Chopper breathes in shock as he looks up at Nami.

 

“That was always the deal, ever since I got my collar off. But Zoro’s life is in danger here and I’m not going to shy away from risking mine to set him free. But… I will be careful because of that.” She concedes with a tilt of her head.

 

“I have a bulletproof vest if you want it.” Robin offers suddenly from behind Sanji, making him jump. He looks at her in confusion, trying to work out if he wants to know why Robin has a bulletproof vest at all before deciding that, no, he doesn’t want to know.

 

“Thanks Robin. So, tonight then.” Nami nods with an air of finality.

 

 

At sunset Sanji is sat on the roof of the Baratie smoking a cigarette, Nami left for the institute all of ten minutes ago, planning to get there just as it’s getting dark and scoping out the place. She wants to learn the position of the guards to best work out how to get in and out without being seen, she was wearing Robin’s bulletproof vest so he feels a little easier about it.

 

He turns when he hears footsteps behind him and sees that it’s Vivi, her long blue hair turning almost teal in the red of the setting sun.

 

“What are you doing up here?” She asks him quietly, joining him on the roof edge.

 

“Well, when everyone’s collars pop open Zoro’s going to make a break for it, he’s chained up by his collar, see?” Sanji says, passing Vivi the photo of Zoro that Blackbeard sent him. Vivi runs long slender fingers over Zoro’s image with a sigh.

 

“You think that’s all **_he_** has keeping Zoro there?” Vivi challenges him.

 

“Maybe, maybe not. Blackbeard is a cocky son of a bitch, so keeping Zoro so close to freedom but just out of reach by keeping him just chained up by his collar is the sort of cruel thing he’d do, so if that’s the case Zoro will be out of there like lightning. If not and he’s got some more defences, well, Zoro’s not one to let a little thing like that stop him, is he?” Sanji grins confidently. He turns his gaze back to the streets below, it’d be happening any time now, the sun dips below the horizon as night properly begins. One by one the streetlights flick on.

 

“So… why are you up here though?” she asks him.

 

“Well, Zoro will escape and try to get somewhere familiar, right? He’ll know that my house isn’t mine anymore, so he’ll come here or he’ll go to Ace and Luffy’s, Luffy is there and he’ll call me if Zoro ends up there. But you know how bad Zoro’s direction is, the moron could get lost in a straight hallway, if I stay up here I can see him coming and make sure he gets here.” He laughs. He’s giddy with the thought of Zoro’s return. He can’t wait to have Zoro back with him, things will be tough and Zoro may be a little fucked up by Blackbeard, but he will make things better.

 

He lights a cigarette and smiles, it’s all going to be okay.

 

“You have a lot of faith in Zoro. And in Nami too.” Vivi says softly and sits down on the roof.

 

“Zoro is strong and capable, both of them are. Nami loves Zoro and I know she’ll get this done.” He asserts and sits down next to her.

 

They sit in companionable silence for a while as darkness falls. Sanji is surprised at how relaxed he feels, but everything that can be done has been done or is being done by someone else.

 

When it happens, it’s a soft sound, a gentle little click that belies the importance of it. Vivi gasps and Sanji turns his gaze on her just in time to see her hands rise to her throat and pull the stiff collar of in two rigid pieces. It clanks to the ground and Vivi’s pale hands roam over her pale empty neck with a sigh of pure happiness.

 

It had worked, Nami had actually done it. And Zoro’s code was right before Vivi’s, Zoro’s collar would be off right now! Sanji leaps to his feet and stares off into the night even though there’s no way that Zoro could be anywhere near him yet. He laughs excitedly and pulls Vivi into a hug as the woman half laughs and half cries in joy.

 

“Igaram!” She exclaims and pulls Sanji down the stairs with her. His lawyer looks up at them as they comes back into the kitchen and beams at them.

 

“It worked!” She squeaks happily and throws herself at Igaram.

 

“I’m so happy princess.” Igaram says, his voice gentle and his hand on the back of Vivi’s neck. Sanji smiles at the scene and the pet name, soon that’ll be him and Zoro.

 

“Sanji, come see this.” Franky calls from the next room. Sanji obliges and follows the voice. Everyone else, except for Ace and Luffy who are at their own house, are sat on sofas and chairs around the TV watching the news. A reporter is exclaiming that there seems to be some kind of fault with mate’s collars as they’re all popping open.

 

“The program runs at 100 collars per second, the whole thing will take four point one minutes, by now thousands are free already.” Usopp grins, looking at his watch.

 

“You’re both geniuses.” Sanji grins broadly, clapping his hands on Franky and Usopp’s shoulders.

 

“Nami’s message was a stroke of brilliance too.” Vivi comments with a smile as she joins them.

 

“Message?” Sanji frowns, looking at her.

 

“Nami decided to throw in an audio message that plays when the collar opens. She just says “This is Nami, run and don’t look back.” it should do the trick, hopefully Zoro will do just that.” Franky smiles.

 

“It is still unknown how this happened, but we’re getting reports that this may have been a deliberate attack. Security footage streamed from the Institute’s grounds show someone escaping just as the incident started, the woman, seen on screen, is dressed all in black as opposed to institute standard dress. It’s unlikely that this woman is an escaped mate, but the institute’s security seems to have caught her.” The TV reporter says, making everyone in the room fall silent.

 

On the screen a figure all in black leaps into view on the top of the institute’s high wall, only a flash of orange hair confirms that it’s Nami until the camera zooms in showing her signature tattoo on her shoulder. Suddenly there’s a bang and she stumbles back from a shot to her chest, a spray of something black catching in the light. Everyone in the room gasps as one.

 

On screen Nami tumbles backwards, limp as a ragdoll as she crashes through the branches of the tree behind her, hitting every branch and bough on the way down. She lands on the floor but it’s too dark to see anything there. The clip rolls a few times to the silence of everyone in the room.

 

“Do you think the jacket stopped the bullet?” Brook asks quietly, looking at them.

 

“I hope so, but that was a nasty fall.” Sanji murmurs.

 

“She could be dead or paralysed.” Robin points out morbidly. Sanji winces but doesn’t say anything as they watch the news unfold. The screen shows video of mates streaming out of the institute, their sheer numbers swamping guards who clearly weren’t prepared for this kind of situation. Reporters theorise about what could have caused this. Sanji and the others simply wait in silence.

 

The door of the Baratie slams open and Nami stumbles through it, causing everyone to leap up out of their seats and crowd around her. The front of her shirt is completely blown away, hanging in tatters. Some of the padding in the bulletproof vest is blown out too, clearly that was what exploded into the air, not her insides.

 

She groans and pulls the ruined shirt off and unfastens the bulletproof vest pulling it stiffly over her head with a whine. Over her left breast is a rapidly purpling bruise the size of a grapefruit, the rest of her body is pretty scuffed and bruised up.

 

“God, that was like getting a kick to the chest.” She groans, rubbing the sore flesh.

 

“It saved your life, that would have been your heart..” Robin notes, pulling the huge metal slug out of the jacket, that was a round meant to kill and no doubt about it.

 

“Yeah, well, I hit every branch on that tree on the way down.” Nami groans, sitting down and letting Chopper fuss over her, feeling her limbs for broken bones. There doesn’t appear to be any and Nami is for the most part fine.

 

“It hurt I’m sure, but hitting everything slowed your fall enough to save your life, you’re very lucky.” Chopper concludes, getting out his little medical kit and cleaning her cuts and scrapes.

 

“It worked Nami.” Vivi exclaims, her hands on her bare throat. Nami gasps softly, her fingers reaching out past Chopper until she touches Vivi’s neck. A giddy laugh escapes her as she pulls the other girl into a careful hug.

 

“Zoro! Crap, I need to be on the roof, if you’re here he could be almost here!” Sanji curses and runs up the stairs. He breaks onto the roof and stares, his gaze snapping around looking for that familiar flash of green hair, his heart and soul searching it out.

 

“Come on, come on.” He mutters impatiently as he watches.

 

Time passes but still no Zoro, he calls Luffy several times to check that Zoro isn’t there, but he isn’t. Anxiousness builds in Sanji’s gut. He supposes that Blackbeard didn’t make escape so easy, perhaps Zoro had to fight his way out, that’d take a little time. Or perhaps the moron was ass backwards lost. That’d be it. It’s not enough to calm his mind though as he smokes cigarette after cigarette and stares out into the city.

 

His phone rings and he snaps it open without even checking the number.

 

“Hello?” He gasps hopefully, but instead of Luffy or Zoro’s voice in his ear it’s Spandam’s.

 

“You bastard, you motherless son of a whore, I will get you for this. You think you’re so fucking clever, my revenge will be-” Spandam snarls.

 

“I don’t have time for you.” He snaps down the line and hangs up, his eyes returning to the city.

 

Where was Zoro?

 

Anxious hours pass but still no Zoro. Sanji calls Luffy over and over again, he calls Ivankov, he calls hospitals and checks for anyone matching Zoro’s description but no one has seen him. He waits fretfully and stares at the people on the street praying for one of them to look up with Zoro’s eyes and see him.

 

His phone rings again and this time he checks the number, it’s not listed in his phone but he picks up anyway, perhaps it’s a payphone or a hospital. If Zoro was hurt in his escape he might have had the sense to go to an emergency room before coming to the Baratie. That could be it.

 

“Hello?” He says down the phone, worry coiling in his gut.

 

“You’re a ballsy guy Sanji, I like that.” Blackbeard’s voice says, pouring poison in his ear.

 

“Blackbeard.” Sanji hisses out, his free hand snapping into a fist at his side.

 

“Spandam is so pissed, I thought a blood vessel was going to burst out of his forehead when I saw him. You really are stronger and smarter than him, I like that. So, you get a reward, a little token of my amusement. That masked freak isn’t going to be in a position to keep paying me for my work and I’ve got no loyalty to him, so you can have your little pet back.” Blackbeard laughs in his ear.

 

“What?” Sanji says numbly, he gets Zoro back?

 

“You deaf or something? You get Zoro back. Like I said, I’ve no loyalty to Spandam, I was just doing this for fun and for money. But the money is gone and Zoro’s not much fun anymore, besides, what will be fun is seeing your reaction to him. When you see what I’ve done to him, eye to eye, as it were. He’s broken now, in bits and pieces.” The man chuckles darkly. Sanji grits his teeth, he’s had enough of these fucking games.

 

“Where the hell is he, you bastard?! I’ll get him back and then I’ll kill you, I swear it!” He shouts down the phone.

 

“Back in your old house, with all the other things you don’t own any more. I’ve tied him up to your bed, maybe if you don’t get here in time I’ll have to find some way to amuse myself with him.” Blackbeard purrs.

 

Sanji snaps the phone shut and sprints down the staircase, ignoring the calls of everyone as he speeds past them. He supposes that he should have asked for the car, but he’s not sure that it’d be faster. His feet are like lightning on the wind and not even God could stop him from reaching where he has to be.

 

Zoro needs him, he won’t let him down again. He doesn’t care if it could be a trap, if there’s a hundred men in his house, a thousand even, waiting for him to get there he’ll kill them all. He’ll burst in, kill them all and save Zoro. His soul simply can’t handle Zoro being hurt any more than he already has been, the consequences to himself be damned!

 

He bounds over the fence to his house, lighter than air, and lands already running on the other side. He bursts through the kitchen and sprints through the apparently empty house as quickly as he can. There’s no guards, no muscle, no resistance at all. That’s bad, what is he going to find in his room?

 

The light is on in it, he can see the glow spilling out into the hallway. He skids as he turns and runs inside, a million memories washing over him as he does so, memories of him and Zoro in this room, making love, talking, touching. His eyes land on the bed and… there’s no Zoro there.

 

“ZORO!” He shouts, but there’s no answer. Fuck, he’s not here.

 

But… there’s something on the bed. Warily he steps closer it’s a box with a piece of paper on the top. Eyes darting around the room nervously he picks it up.

 

“You did this.” He reads aloud off of the paper. He frowns, what does it mean?

 

The box is smooth and black probably about four inches wide and deep. With trepidation and shaking hands he flicks the latch on it and opens the lid, terrified about what he might find within.

 

He stares for a second, his brain not able to quite process what he’s seeing enough to form a reaction to it. Spandam’s words about revenge echo through his mind as he stares into the box, what was that expression about revenge? It was a biblical quote or something. _An eye for an eye_.

 

He’s memorised every inch of Zoro that he’s had the privilege of examining and inside the box, nestled in the centre is an eye. An eye that Sanji has seen light up with laugher, where the gold flecks in it have sparkled seductively, an eye that he’s seen go from mistrust in him to complete trust. But there in the centre of the box is Zoro’s eye, and just his eye. Cut out and dead, expressionless and staring back at him.

 

Some sound rips from his throat, some primal wounded sound as his imagination catches up with him. His knees buckle as Zoro’s name spills from his lips in an agonised howl with prayers to a god for this to not be real, for apologies for a sin he can never atone for as Zoro’s solitary removed eye stares him down. Was Zoro alive for this, is he still alive now? Was he awake when this was done to him? He clutches the box to his chest as he struggles to breathe and cry at the same time.

 

A sound, a beeping fills his ears and makes his alert senses snap to attention. He looks up through streaming eyes and sees… a camera. A security camera fixed on him from its position hastily screwed into his bedroom wall. But that’s not what’s beeping, the thing that’s beeping is something stuck to the ceiling and the other wall. Sticks of dynamite with little red flashing beeping things on them.

 

He sucks in a breath as the room explodes into noise and fire around him, hurling him through the air like a ragdoll. He smashes into a mirror, knocking the breath from him. His head snaps back painfully just in time for him to see a chunk of the ceiling the size of his bed come loose and tumbling down towards him. He cries out and the world goes black. 


	23. Chapter 23

Breaking into a secret fortified mansion is a lot easier than it seems when you’re accompanied by a cyborg, a sniper, a human bonfire, a rubber maniac, an undead swordsman, an angry reindeer and two lovely ladies who can respectively snap your neck or electrocute you from miles away. 

Sanji vaults the wall, taking care to put his weight on his left arm rather than his right. When the ceiling fell on him he managed to catch it with his foot but at the cost of cracking his knee into his collar bone and fracturing it. He only just managed to avoid being crushed by falling masonry completely. Still, landing hurts like a bitch. 

Usopp snipes two guards standing watch with two quick and accurate shots whilst Franky takes more of a spray of bullets approach to dispatching the two on the other side. 

“Stop being so loud! We have a plan here!” Nami chides the cyborg, smacking him on top of the head with her staff. The electricity from it turns Franky’s hair into a statically charged afro.

“Screw plans! I’m gonna burn this place to the ground!” Ace declares, catching fire. 

Sanji tunes them out and runs to the building across the grounds. Guards appear of course, trying to take him out but a few lightning quick kicks dispatches the first and the neck of the second is snapped by two disembodied hands before he can get to him. He dashes inside, kicking down doors and trying to find any clue as to where Zoro could be. 

After he’d come back to the Baratie with Zoro’s eye in a box it hadn’t taken much convincing to get everyone to agree to invade Blackbeard’s mansion to get Zoro back. Law, Chopper and Ivankov had all warned him that Zoro might well be dead both inside and outside by the time he got there. He’d told them all that he didn’t care, if Zoro was dead then he was still rescuing his body and giving him a proper burial, if he was dead inside then Sanji would look after him indefinitely, and if there was anything left of Zoro to rescue (and he had to believe that there was) then he simply couldn’t wait any longer. 

They had tried to warn him that he could get captured and tortured himself, that he could get killed; so many things could go wrong. He didn’t care. He was already being tortured by Blackbeard at a distance and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Nami was right though, they had a plan, his job was to break in with Ace and find Zoro and get him the hell out of there, regardless of who they ran into. Everyone else had the job of being backup and ensuring that they had an escape route. 

A ball of fire streaks past Sanji exploding a glass wall open, he leaps through the hole created by it with Ace right behind him. He kicks a guard into a wall and the next life whilst Ace punches another in the throat. 

“We gotta find some stairs, he’s got to be keeping Zoro in some kind of dungeon below ground.” Ace pants, backing up close to him. Sanji nods, when they’d told Law and Ivankov what they were doing Law informed him of what he’d learnt from Blackbeard’s past victims. None of them liked the dark and they all preferred being in high light places as opposed to low dark ones, and not a one of them could be convinced to go into a basement, they’d all freak out immediately. Law had proposed that Blackbeard must keep them underground and in the dark, so that was what they were looking for. 

“It looks like the main part of the building is this way, that’s the best bet right?” Sanji agrees, pointing through another glass wall that leads out into a courtyard. Ace’s grin spreads wide and he spins, kicking another blisteringly hot fireball into the glass, exploding it from the thermal shock. Sanji runs behind Ace this time. Zoro probably would laugh to see them working so close together but in a terrible sort of way Zoro’s pain has brought them close together, Ace is hurt by Zoro’s pain just as much as Sanji is, both of them love him after all. 

Sanji isn’t sure that he’d be able to be so nice if he was in Ace’s position, if he’d been there first and then someone else walked into Zoro’s life and stole him away and finally won his sought after love. Especially when that newcomer went and got him kidnapped and tortured. Sanji thinks that if he’d been in Ace’s shoes he might have killed that kind of guy. He doesn’t know if Ace has stayed his hand because Zoro would be hurt by that or if he really is the bigger man.

Ace skids to a halt in the far end of the courtyard, causing Sanji to run into his tattooed back and nearly drop Zoro’s swords that he’s holding in his arms. When they get to Zoro they’re going to arm him, it’ll be like therapy if he can cut his way out of the place with them. 

Sanji looks around Ace to see what caused the sudden stop to see a short woman with blonde hair standing there with a blank expression on her face. Her neck has a pale white stripe on it, exactly as wide as a collar as it happens. She’s one of Blackbeard’s victims. 

“You can escape, get out of here! We’ll take care of Blackbeard!” Sanji calls to her.

“Shut up, idiot!” Ace hisses, elbowing him in the ribs. 

The woman’s head tilts disjointedly as she turns to look at him, her eyes are completely blank and dead as she looks at them. They remind him of Cindry and creep him the fuck out, she stares at them for a second or two.

“If Blackbeard lets her wander around here like that, she’s clearly no danger to him which means that she could be a danger to-” Ace growls, only to be interrupted by the woman’s hollow voice.

“Intruders…” She says unevenly. 

“Oh great, and you can’t fight women.” Ace grumbles as the woman lunges for them both with a banshee like screech and murder in her eyes. Sanji squeaks and leaps back and Ace kicks her. He closes his eyes and tamps down his reaction to kill Ace for hurting a woman.

“I’m gonna go inside, I’ll head right trying to find a staircase, catch up!” He calls and runs. He flings the door open, leaving Ace to his fight and runs indoors. He shifts Zoro’s three swords against his side and looks around. Blackbeard’s plush mansion is way bigger than his was, this is easily the size of his fath- Spandam’s. He only said right so that Ace could follow him, but truth be told he’s no idea what direction Zoro could be in. Yells and explosions echo around the building as everyone’s fighting continues. He turns right and runs. 

He pelts down a hallway with Zoro’s swords clattering against his side, he turns randomly, hoping that fate might lead him to Zoro. Perhaps it does. He trips on an upturned corner of a run and nearly lands face first on the floor. He looks down at the rug; it’s some exotic Persian antique rug, surrounded by pedestals dotting the walls. The upturned corner that he nearly tripped up on is right by a pedestal against a wall. There’s… there’s no way that someone just walking down the corridor could have snagged the rug like that. It’s almost as if someone came sideways on from it and snagged it like that, but they’d have to be coming out of the wall to do that…

His sense of wrongness rises and he squints at the wall, if he looks very carefully he swears that he can see cracks in it. He touches his fingernails lightly to the wall and drags them sideways and- yes! His nails catch a ridge. He follows it up and down and manages to do the same on the other side. There’s a door here and no doubt it leads to Zoro! But how to get in?

The statues on the plinths on either side, figures of naked Grecian men killing each other, prove no help at all in terms of secret levers or buttons. He kicks at the door fiercely but clearly it’s meant to swing out instead of in so it doesn’t budge.

He pauses and chews his lip, if he kicks the door too hard he risks making it completely inoperable and Zoro totally unreachable. If only he had something that he could slide into the door and pop it open with… The swords rattle temptingly in their scabbards. He winces as he draws the white one out, he’d hate someone doing this with his chef’s knives but he’d rather that Zoro was alive and angry at him for using his swords like this than dead and respected. He jams the white hilted blade into the wall and shoves until it stops. Tentatively he slides the blade down until he hits what has to be the latch of the door, he tilts the blade and shoves forward, depressing the latch. The door springs free and Sanji levers the blade to pull the door open. 

With a triumphant laugh he pulls the door wide open and slides Zoro’s sword back into its home. His laugh falls dead on his lips when the stale smell of blood hits him. The hairs on the back of his neck rise up as millennia of evolution tell him that this is a bad place to be, that it’s somewhere where big predatory things kill things like him. The place feels like death and some part of him wants nothing more than to slam the door shut and run off. He shoves the feeling away and kicks the carpet under the door to jam it open so that when Ace comes this way he’ll know where he’s gone. 

Behind the door are stairs that curve as they go down, they’re cold stone and he sticks as close to the far wall as possible. There’s no light down here though so Sanji flicks his lighter open and holds it before him to show him the way. The place feels even spookier with the flickering flame casting dancing shadows on the wall. He shivers and makes his way into a cold, clammy, dark room. The place is huge and open though, there are large wide supporting pillars here and there that spreads out into wide archways which almost section the wide room off into a series of mini rooms. The cold cavernous spread of the room feels like some old cave; it must be what the mansion is built on. There’s no bricks in the wall- the place just seems to be carved from the very rock. 

“Zoro?” He calls out, ill at ease, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. 

No answer comes back to him and Sanji hugs the swords a little tighter as a cold finger of fear drags itself up his spine. He swallows nervously and continues forwards, his eyes sweeping every darkened spot for a glimpse of Zoro and wary of Blackbeard suddenly appearing. He doesn’t know how the man’s devil’s fruit works exactly, but he knows that it has to do with darkness and he knows how scared the dark made Cindry. Needless to say, being surrounded by so much darkness with only a little flame in his lighter to show his way makes him anxious. 

A shine in the light catches his attention so he holds the lighter aloft. In the darkness hang heavy sets of chains with cuffs on them, the wall and pillar next to it displays a large assortment of whips, blow torches and blunt instruments. Sanji shudders and walks quickly on. 

His heels click on the stone floor as he walks the room, his eyes search for any sign of Zoro but only land on more and more things that make him fear for Zoro’s well being. The giant bottles of bleach scattered about the place certainly don’t help his nerves either.

A rat squeaks and runs over Sanji’s foot, making him leap in the air in nervous fright. His ears strain for the sound of any breathing but his own but he hears none. 

Wait! A voice! 

He strains his ears only to hear a distant crash, it sounds like a load of rocks falling. Clumsy in the darkness he sprints after the sound, not knowing or caring if he’s running into a trap. He nearly runs headfirst into a door as it happens, not recognising the shape in the poor light until he’s almost upon it. He pulls the heavy door open and the sound becomes louder and clearer until it suddenly stops. 

He pauses on the second set of stairs, desperately listening for any noise at all. A gunshot rings out, followed by silence. With his heart in his throat he rushes down the stairs.

“ZORO!” A voice calls out, stilling Sanji’s progress on the stairs. Was that an echo? No… he hadn’t spoken. He comes out into another room, only this one isn’t so dark. However the reason that it’s not so dark is the giant TV screen playing. Across it, larger than life stands an image of himself. He recognises the room that he’s in, it’s his bedroom and on the bed is the black lacquer box that he knows so well.

As the reality of what is happening here sets in he swings his gaze around the room to see a figure slumped against the opposite wall, he doesn’t need the flash of green hair to know who it is but it’s there anyway.

“Zoro!” He gasps, leaping he distance to him. There are no bars separating them, but instead two chains running from each of Zoro’s wrists to the wall. He falls before him on his knees and takes Zoro’s face in his hands, he’s still warm and breathing, he’s alive. Across one eye is a bandage that runs diagonally across Zoro’s forehead and down to his ear, covering his missing eye. Surprisingly the bandage looks clean despite it being over a day since Zoro would have had his eye taken out. 

His eyes are hungry for the sight of Zoro and drink in every detail of him, whether Sanji likes it or not. His skin is clean, or cleaner than Sanji would have expected. Bits of him, such as his eye and his ear, along with multiple other patches on his body are either bandaged or covered in large plasters. Apparently Blackbeard didn’t want Zoro suffering from anything that could kill him like septicaemia or gangrene, that would take the fun out of making him suffer no doubt. 

He’s shirtless and slumped against the wall behind him, his arms hanging loosely by his sides against the slack chains. He’s awake, his one eye fixed on the screen behind Sanji. Sanji isn’t sure if he imagines the feather light flinch that runs through Zoro’s muscles or whether it’s his own but the words spoken behind him chill him.

“You did this.” 

It’s his own voice and right now he accepts it, he did do this to Zoro. He looks into Zoro’s blank eye but it’s as dead looking as the one that Sanji’s got in a box at the Baratie. No. He didn’t do this to Zoro, and Zoro didn’t do it either. Blackbeard did, and Blackbeard is torturing Zoro with this video, this shot that looks to all intents and purposes like his death, and he’d bet his ass that the gunshot he heard earlier was a video of Nami’s “death” as she was escaping from the institute. 

He growls and puts the swords down on the floor by Zoro, there’s no way he can carry both them and Zoro out at the same time, so Zoro’s going to have to carry them. 

“I thought you could use these back marimo.” He says out loud as he pulls the belt that the swords hang from around Zoro’s waist and buckles it. 

“We’re getting your ass out of here.” He adds, standing upright.

“Don’t move, I’m busting those chains.” He warns, not that Zoro has reacted at all. He brings his foot down as hard as he can manage by Zoro’s right wrist, shattering the chain and freeing Zoro. He smashes the other and pulls Zoro’s unresisting limbs through. 

He pulls on Zoro’s left arm and brings the man unevenly to his feet, he’s standing but only because Sanji is holding him there. His gaze is still fixed on the screen before them, Sanji turns to see himself being crushed under rubble, it doesn’t look like there’s any way that he could have survived that. As if to remind him just how he did, his collar bone throbs painfully under Zoro’s weight leaning against him. 

The very thought of the pain that this has caused Zoro sends a bolt of fire through him. He flicks his lighter open and steps on a broken chain link with his toe, the thing is easily the size of his fist, the pressure on the link flicks it into the air and Sanji kicks it with practiced ease and sends it flying straight into the screen destroying it. 

“You don’t have to see that ever again Zoro, it’s okay.” He says softly, not knowing if his Zoro is really still inside the man he’s holding up. He hopes that he is, he hopes that his words can reach Zoro.

“I’m here, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner, but I’m here now and I’m getting you out of here.” He vows quietly in the near total darkness. He pulls Zoro to the stairs and starts climbing up a floor to the first dungeon level, Zoro’s feet move with him, catching himself enough to stop from falling but it’s more a reflex than it is walking. 

“It’s going to be okay.” He says into the darkness, pulling Zoro a little tighter to himself, not knowing who he’s trying to reassure more, himself or Zoro. 

They climb the stairs with Sanji nervously narrating everything. He desperately wants Zoro to say something, anything, even if it’s to tell him to stop babbling. But Zoro says nothing and stays silent. He’s about halfway across the dungeon floor in the dark when a bright burning light in the shape of a man lights the room and all its gory contents up like a theme park for psychos.

“ACE!” He yells.

“Sanji… ZORO!” Ace shouts back, sprinting to them. 

“Is he…?” Ace pants as he reaches them, his back and his legs are on fire but his hands extinguish themselves as they reach out and touch Zoro. Ace is wondering just what he’s wondering, is Zoro still alive and is Zoro still alive?

“I don’t know, help me get him out of here.” Sanji pants, his collar bone protesting loudly and painfully. Ace extinguishes more of himself and slips under Zoro’s other arm, getting his swords in the ribs as he helps Sanji pull the stumbling man from the room. Eventually they come out into the bright hallway and lean Zoro against the opposite wall as Sanji vengefully kicks the dungeon door shut, he never wants to go back down there again. 

Zoro is still staring blankly ahead in the same way that Cindry had done, and from the way that Ace is holding him he’s pretty sure that Zoro would be sliding down the wall right now if he wasn’t being held up. 

“Zoro, please still be in there, please.” He begs, touching Zoro’s chin and tilting his face to him. Zoro stares right though him, filling Sanji with dread. 

“Zoro…” he pleads, his heart breaking in his chest as Zoro’s empty gaze is unmoving. 

“We don’t have time to do this here, let’s go!” Ace snaps, shoving him in the arm. Sanji looks at Ace and sees the same echo of pain in his face that he feels, Ace is just as worried about Zoro as he is, but perhaps he’s smart enough not to let this devolve into the agony that it could do when they’re in such a dangerous place. 

“Right.” He nods, blinking his eyes dry and sliding under Zoro’s arm. Between the two of them they pull Zoro towards the way that they came, aiming to get him out of this place and back to Robin’s safely. 

“Is it… quiet?” Sanji asks, stopping suddenly after a few minutes of running.

“What?” Ace frowns, but the building has gone quiet. They stop and listen but there’s no sound at all… it’s far too quiet. 

Sanji feels a sudden snap of tension run through Zoro’s back as the man suddenly straightens up and pulls back against them, his gaze is sharp and focused now but not on either of them. 

“Zoro?” Ace questions hopefully, looking at the man. Sanji though follows Zoro’s gaze and sees a slithering mist of… something black creeping towards them across the floor. Zoro’s breathing is speeding up and he takes a step backwards, followed by another, pulling him and Ace with him. 

“Blackbeard’s power is darkness…” Sanji breathes.

“So there’ll be no darkness.” Ace growls, his hand catching alight. He shoots a stream of fire at the creeping dark, setting the carpet and the wall alight.

“ACE! You’ll burn the building down and kill us all!” Sanji snaps, kicking him. Ace stops. The darkness has receded but soon slides directly for them with increased speed. Zoro bolts, breaking free of their arms and running, only to skid to a halt less than ten feet away as a sudden solid wall of darkness rises up, blocking his path. 

Sanji backs up as Ace ignores earlier advice and indiscriminately shoots fire at the darkness, but no matter what he does the darkness returns almost instantly, like stomping in a puddle doesn’t leave a hole in the water, this doesn’t banish the dark. 

“Black hole.” The voice rings along the hallway, as if carried by the darkness. 

Sanji backs up until he hits something, he turns his head to see that he’s walked into Zoro. The man’s eye is darting around at the encroaching darkness with a simply terrified look on his face. He slips his hand into Zoro’s and for the first time Zoro glances at him and really seems to see him, Zoro’s hand tightens in his as the darkness rushes over their feet and drops them into nothingness.

It’s not like being in the dark, not really. In the dark you’re still aware of your body, of your breathing, of your heart beating. But here he can’t feel anything, not even himself. He can’t move his own limbs because he can’t even feel if he has any. He’s just… a disembodied brain floating in absolute nothing. 

He understands now what Law meant when he said about complete sensory deprivation. So Blackbeard has him now then, and Zoro again too. But Zoro was still alive inside, he saw the way that Zoro had looked at him, the way the other man had squeezed his hand back. Zoro was alive. 

“Liberation.” That voice again, Blackbeard’s voice. 

Sanji gasps in air as the darkness retreats from him, giving him a body once more. Light floods back in, glorious light. He blinks, trying to focus and struggles vainly against the tightness against his chest. His arms are pinned to his side and he’s mired in the darkness up to his ribs. Around him his nakama are all in similar states, they’re all circled around Blackbeard and Zoro in the centre of the room. 

Zoro is standing on normal flooring, not darkness, but around the six foot circle that he stands in darkness surrounds him, darkness filled with his trapped and furious friends and family all trying to get free. Zoro is stock still and staring at nothing again. Blackbeard is eyeing Sanji smugly from the centre of the ring, sitting as he is on a throne made of darkness. 

“Did you really think that this would work? That you could break into my home, take my toys and run away?” Blackbeard laughs loudly. 

“He’s not your toy!” Sanji shouts back, struggling against the dark uselessly. 

“Hm, I suppose not, not now that you and your little friends have destroyed Spandam’s company. The sheer number of lawsuits that man is facing right now is hilarious, there’s no way he can ever pay everyone for all of those collars breaking open and freeing their mates. He’s going to have to flee the country.” Blackbeard muses as he gets up and walks close to Sanji.

“However, since he has given me so many fun toys over the years I thought I’d do him a favour. I told him that I’ve got you here and that he’s welcome to show up with a baseball bat and smash your skull in for all that you’ve done. He’s going to hit your brain right out of the park and Zoro here is going to watch.” Blackbeard says tauntingly, tapping the side of Sanji’s head with a fat finger. 

Sanji’s eyes flicker to Zoro. He had seen life in him earlier, he had. But right now Zoro is standing behind Blackbeard, his expression blank and his body free of tension. Blackbeard tracks his gaze and grins.

“Oh, you think that your love here will save you? You think that he’ll use those swords of his and stop me? Honestly Sanji, your lack of respect for my work is upsetting.” Blackbeard says in false hurt, pressing a hand over where his heart would be if he had one. 

“I have broken every last bit of Zoro’s little mind, he’s never going to move to rescue you. Do you know why?” the evil man demands, leaning over him.

Sanji’s mind flicks back to the video that was playing on repeat in the dungeon for Zoro’s benefit. How many times had it run since it had actually happened to him? How many times did Zoro think that he’d died?

“Because he thinks I’m dead.” Sanji growls, glaring at Blackbeard.

“No, he knows you’re dead. And I’ve filled him with enough mind altering substances whilst he’s been here that he knows better than to believe his own eyes. And even without that he dreams about you anyway, dreams about you dying and there being nothing he can do to stop it. He’s not going to help you because he knows you’re not real.” Blackbeard says mockingly, running a hand along Sanji’s jaw and pulling an angry growl from his lips.

Blackbeard stands up, his hands on his hips and a smug grin on his face. 

“Zoro is stronger than that, stronger than you! If you really thought you’d broken him he’d be wandering around your house freely, not locked in a dungeon. You know he’s still in there!” Ace shouts, struggling against the darkness holding him in place. 

“Really?” Blackbeard laughs with mirth, his hands holding his large shaking belly as he chuckles out loud.

Blackbeard leaves Sanji’s side and strolls to Ace. Sanji should probably be watching but he can’t take his eyes off of Zoro. Zoro is free, standing without a collar and not in darkness, he could move if he wanted, run even (though Sanji isn’t sure where he could go as he’s surrounded). He’s armed, he could attack Blackbeard, and yet… and yet Zoro stands there like a statue. The only sign that Zoro is actually alive is his gentle breathing moving his bare chest. He stares at Zoro, willing him to move with his eyes. Any trace of Zoro’s mind that he’d seen moments ago is gone. 

Blackbeard struts back into his field of view with a knife in his hands, Ace’s knife, Sanji dimly recognises. Ace and Luffy are screaming and shouting all manner of obscenities at Blackbeard, threats of death, of unimaginable pain should Blackbeard lay so much as a finger on Zoro. The two D brothers are suddenly silenced as the darkness rises and smothers their mouths. 

They struggle against it but there’s no use.

“Much better, quieter.” Blackbeard sighs with relief. 

“Now, you don’t believe that Zoro’s completely under my command? Well let’s see. Zoro, give me your neck.” Blackbeard orders, stopping before Zoro. 

Unhesitatingly and unthinkingly Zoro tips his head back, looking skywards and bearing his neck to the armed Blackbeard. Sanji stares at the pale stripe on Zoro’s skin where his collar used to be. Sanji wanted to be the one to take Zoro’s collar off, he wanted to see the skin that hadn’t been free for years, but he didn’t want to see it like this with a knife against it! He snarls angrily and thrashes against the binding darkness. 

Blackbeard presses the knife lightly to Zoro’s skin, just kissing it with the blade under his Adams apple. The psychopath’s thumb runs along the flat edge of the blade almost affectionately. 

“Zoro, lean into it.” He orders casually. 

Sanji watches the slow tilt of Zoro’s body, watches in open mouthed horror as Zoro slowly leans forward onto the blade firmly held in Blackbeard’s hands. The blade presses against Zoro’s skin indenting it until finally the pressure builds enough for the blade to cut, thick dark red blood blossoming and flowing over it, dribbling down Zoro’s bare neck and chest. 

“Stop.” Blackbeard commands and Zoro stops. Blackbeard keeps the blade exactly where it is though and Sanji can still see the blood move along the blade and drip off as Zoro’s sluggish pulse expels that vital liquid from his system. Zoro doesn’t even seem to feel it, his expression is still vacant. His point proven Blackbeard drops the knife and turns back to face them. 

“He’s dead inside, I’ve broken him and there’s no getting him back, can’t you see that? He doesn’t care about his own life, he doesn’t care if he dies!” the man laughs outrageously as if this is the funniest thing in the world. 

“Zoro, snap out of it!” Sanji calls, struggling some more. 

“Oh yes, please do shout out for him, beg him to run or to save you, I do love watching other people’s pain. So come on, please, tell him that you’re real, because he won’t believe you. Tell him that you’re alive, because he’s seen you die a thousand times and he hates himself for not being able to stop it. Come on, I’ve got all day, go for it!” Blackbeard laughs, sitting down on the floor by Sanji and grinning sickly at him.

“Well, I say I’ve got all day, I’ve got until Spandam and his baseball bat get here and splatter your brains across the room right before your love and all of your friends. So actually, get a move on, I want to hear this!” he hoots. 

The words don’t come to Sanji right away, he stares at Zoro standing before him, his gaze directed straight ahead of him and off to the side of Sanji. The blood is still inching down his chest from his slit throat in measured, even pulses. Blackbeard is right, there’s no way he can convince Zoro that this isn’t a dream or some hallucination, that’s what Blackbeard wants him to do. 

“I’m sorry Zoro.” He apologises quietly.

“I’m sorry I left you here for so long, I was trying to be strong, to win and get you back so that no one could take you again. I thought that I could win in court but I didn’t realise that it was just a distraction to keep me from you. I’m sorry.” He says, feeling the tears well in his eyes. 

“I love you and… and it hurt so much, seeing you and hearing you get hurt. I never thought anything could hurt like that, Zoro.” He says, the confession ripping raw and painful from his chest, but it needs to be said. A tremble runs through Zoro’s frame, a shudder almost.

“Sanji, stop it! Don’t you think that Zoro’s been hurt enough without you making him feel worse?!” Nami shouts for the first time.

“Yeah, stop it!” Usopp agrees angrily.

“But it’s true! He ripped you apart and sent me the pieces Zoro! It broke my heart hearing you in so much pain! And I’m sorry I put you in that position!” He shouts. 

“Gee, you’re almost better at this than I am.” Blackbeard grins as the shudder becomes an all out flinch, a pained whine slips from between Zoro’s lips.

“I’m never going to forgive myself for everything that happened to you Zoro, no matter how much Blackbeard hurt me by sending me those things. It doesn’t matter how much time I spent sobbing because of hearing you scream, or agonising about what might be happening to you, it still doesn’t excuse me!” He shouts desperately, speaking truthfully now.

“Sanji, shut up! You’re hurting him!” Franky shouts over him, and it’s true, Zoro’s looking at him now – really looking at him, with agony on his face. 

“I know I can’t convince you that this is real, I know I can’t convince you that there’s even a chance that it might be. I know you think that this is a dream, or a hallucination!” he calls to Zoro, desperately leaning forward. Blackbeard is grinning like a fool, expecting him to say that it’s not, to claim that he really is real.

“So maybe this isn’t real. But if this is a dream and you’re armed and Blackbeard is right here… don’t you want to take the chance to get revenge? If Blackbeard really did kill me, if he really did crush me to death… don’t you think you ought to run him through with one of your swords, shouldn’t you avenge me?” He challenges. 

Blackbeard turns sharply and looks up at Zoro, Sanji doesn’t miss the doubt and worry that flashes across his face, because Blackbeard knows that there are still bits of Zoro that he hasn’t reached. He knows that there is strength in Zoro that he simply couldn’t take and right now Sanji’s words have him afraid of what Zoro might do. 

Zoro is staring right at Sanji, his expression inscrutable but not the picture of agony it was a few moments ago. Sanji stares back, hoping and praying that his words really have got through to Zoro. Zoro blinks slowly (or is it winking if he’s only got the one eye now…?) and turns his gaze back straight ahead away from Sanji and lets the blank expression settle over his features again.

“Zoro…” Sanji pleads, feeling desperate but already seeing that his best wasn’t good enough.

“Oh wow, you really had me going for a moment there Sanji.” Blackbeard laughs, slapping a hand on his shoulder. Sanji keeps his face neutral as his eyes register movement, Zoro is still facing forward but his visible eye has slid back to Sanji, he’s watching him. 

“Zoro, please.” Sanji begs. Blackbeard glances back but Zoro’s gaze is forward and neutral again. He chuckles to himself.

Blackbeard reaches forward and snags Sanji under the chin, forcing him to look up. Over Blackbeard’s shoulder Sanji sees Zoro’s gaze return to him again.

“I could kill you right in front of him you know, he wouldn’t do anything, even though you’ve armed him with those pretty swords. He doesn’t dare disobey me, not anymore.” Blackbeard threatens quietly, hissing in Sanji’s face. Sanji growls but doesn’t miss the way Zoro’s left hand twitches sharply, as if itching to do something.

“Zoro’s stronger than you are, you underestimate him.” Sanji hisses back, he keeps his glare on Blackbeard but in his peripheral he can see Zoro’s left arm slowly tracking against his bare torso across to his right hip. 

“No, you overestimate him. He was the strongest I’ve seen, sure. But he broke, just like everyone else. They’re all weak.” Blackbeard taunts him, squeezing Sanji’s cheeks painfully. 

Zoro’s hand silently wraps around the white hilt of his favourite sword. Sanji glowers at Blackbeard and struggles fruitlessly against his bindings, keen to keep Blackbeard’s attention on him. 

“He broke because of you, because you made him love you. Don’t you know how much time he must have spent in his life vowing never to do just that, to fall for his master? And yet you came into his life and broke him, you broke him before I did, cracked his heart open and climbed inside. You’re just as much of a monster.” Blackbeard continues with a sick grin.

“I’m nothing like you.” Sanji argues back as Zoro silently pulls the sword free of her sheath without making so much as a scraping sound. 

Do it. Sanji begs silently in the confines of his head.

“I might not have been able to break him if not for you, you’re his weakness.” The psycho taunts him. Zoro’s bare feet move silently on the rug behind Blackbeard as he turns. 

“Caring about someone- loving someone… that’s not weakness, that’s strength.” Sanji counters. Zoro flips the sword in his hand, so that the blade is pointing downwards. 

“I love Zoro, more than anything. You’ll never have that, and that’s why he’s stronger than you are, that’s why you couldn’t break him, because he loves me too.” Sanji breathes.

Zoro strikes, it’s so fast that Sanji doesn’t even see it. One moment Zoro was raising his sword arm and the next there’s a blade sprouting from the front of Blackbeard’s chest. The laugh that Blackbeard had started at Sanji’s words turns into a wet gurgle.

Zoro’s jaw tilts defiantly, as if considering his position. Sanji watches as the blade in Blackbeard’s chest tilts slightly and pulls out with a sickening sound, cutting him anew from a different angle as slowly and painfully as possible. 

Blackbeard’s eyes bulge wide as he coughs out a mouthful of blood. His body trembles and the darkness around them all suddenly evaporates, dropping Sanji onto his knees before Blackbeard. Zoro flicks his sword, splattering a line of Blackbeard’s blood across the wall and floor. 

“Die.” Sanji curses, pulling his strongest leg back in his crouch and powering up into a kick that sends Blackbeard’s head snapping back and his teeth spraying through the air like morbid confetti. Zoro springs to the side out of the way, as light and nimble as he ever was when training outside in Sanji’s garden. Blackbeard stumbles, pained and disoriented, clutching the bloody hole in his chest with one hand and his bleeding mouth with the other. 

The others are rising to their feet now, Luffy is pulling back a fist, Nami and Usopp are raising their weapons, Franky is transforming and Ace is indistinguishable from the inferno that surrounds him. Blackbeard eyes them all fearfully and pulls up a wall of darkness on his side of the room just as lightning, fire and bullets lance across the room towards him. Luffy and Ace sprint to the wall of darkness but stop short of touching it, wary of being sucked in again, Blackbeard is escaping but there’s nothing that they can do about it. The blackness in the other half of the room dissolves with Blackbeard nowhere to be seen.

But… they’ve rescued Zoro. Blackbeard is on the run and clearly in no condition to fight them, and Zoro is alive! He turns, beaming, to Zoro and… stares. Zoro isn’t looking at him, or at the wall of darkness, he’s not really looking at anything. The blank stare is back and his posture is loose and uncaring again, his hand relaxes and his white sword tumbles from it onto the floor with a clatter. 

“Zoro!” Nami exclaims, rushing forward and grabbing Zoro’s precious sword up off of the floor. She wipes it on her sleeve hurriedly and places it back into its scabbard, staring at Zoro’s empty expression the whole time.

“Zoro, where’d you go?” Sanji asks, touching Zoro. The swordsman doesn’t react at all; it’s like Sanji’s not even there. 

“He’s been really traumatised Sanji, we need to get him out of here. Let’s just go.” Chopper says, pulling on Sanji’s sleeve. 

“Right… come on Zoro.” Sanji nods absently, grabbing Zoro’s arm and pulling him out towards the exit, following Nami and the others. 

“He’s not getting away from me!” Ace fumes from up ahead, angrily glancing in every room they pass for a trace of Blackbeard. Sanji wants to kill him too but right now his priority is getting Zoro somewhere safe. 

They burst out onto the manicured lawn of Blackbeard’s mansion; the darkness surrounding the house makes Sanji somewhat uneasy, though it’s the natural darkness of night. They don’t get too far from the house before figures leap around them, surrounding the group. They’re his father- no, Spandam’s men. 

Jabra is the one in front of him and Zoro, Sanji instinctively steps before Zoro and slides the nonresponsive man behind him. 

“You can’t protect him, and this time when I bite him I’m gonna take a chunk right outta him.” Jabra laughs maniacally. 

Sanji’s eyes widen as his mind flicks back to the morning when he and Zoro had awoken and were tricked into thinking that the night before Sanji had raped him. The bite on Zoro’s neck hadn’t been his. The teeth were crooked and jagged just… just like Jabra’s. He remembers seeing a flash of something canine on the beach too that night. 

For the second time that night he kicks the teeth right out of someone’s head. For the second time that night he wishes that he could do it again and again. 

Ace takes out Lucci, and that pleases Sanji to no end to see the bastard lawyer’s cat fur burning as the fire fist attacks him. Nami and Usopp take on Califa, Franky and Chopper fight Kumadori, Brook takes on Kaku and Zoro and Robin stand there doing nothing. 

“Spandam.” Robin’s voice says quietly, her voice so out of place that it startles Sanji from grinding his heel into Jabra’s face. 

She’s staring across the lawn to the figures in the darkness; Spandam is at the front, looking furious that his best fighters are losing. He’s cursing and shouting, giving orders to his remaining guards to shoot them. 

“Do you remember Ohara?” Robin yells, her face so furious that Sanji has to take a step back.

“I burnt it to the ground, and I’ll burn you too!” Spandam shrieks at them. Ace quirks an eyebrow and casually hurls a bathtub sized fireball at Blackbeard’s house, as if to prove that he was the only one burning things here. 

“That bastard, I’ll kill him.” Franky says darkly, looking at Spandam from over his shoulder. 

“I got here first.” Robin says flatly, raising her hands up to her chest and crossing them at the wrists. Sanji gasps and looks back to the man he’s hated his entire life, it’s dark but the light of the burning building lets Sanji see the arms sprouting on Spandam’s body, pulling and contorting him backwards. They bend him into an arch that is painful to pretty much everyone who isn’t Sanji or made of rubber like Luffy. 

Robin’s eyes are hard as diamonds as she surveys the burning scene before her and her mortal enemy bend and entirely at her mercy. Sanji looks back to Spandam, unfortunately for him Robin is without mercy.

“Clutch.” Robin says with a voice like ice.

The snap of Spandam’s spine seems to echo throughout the night. 

“Well, as much as I’m going to treasure the memory of seeing that, we need to leave.” Nami says after a moment. Silent agreement runs through them all and Sanji grabs Zoro’s hand and pulls him away. 

 

Their escape plan is brilliant in its simplicity. They need to escape the police for a laundry list of charges, theft (of Zoro), murder, assault, breaking and entering, property damage, grievous bodily harm, and probably a whole bunch of other things too. The simple solution was to just flee the country. It was kind of Zeff who had suggested it, he’d had a floating restaurant once, before Sanji met him and he said that the sea could be a place where men could live free. Luffy had then exclaimed about pirates and the fact that Ace was actually already in a pirate crew, though apparently Ace had chosen to be land bound as long as Zoro needed him. 

After that there hadn’t been any stopping them.

Franky had got his brother and all of his friends to help in building a ship to take them to sea, Nami had started amassing sea charts and island maps, the Baratie staff had started loading him up with supplies and Chopper set up medical facilities in the knowledge that someone would surely need them immediately. 

They run to the ocean together, Zoro’s slack hand in his as the man keeps up with no care for where they’re going or even anything giving a hint that he’s aware of what’s happening at all. Their feet slam up the board of the new ship, thusfar unnamed, all of them except Ace.

The freckled man hesitates at the bottom of the plank and stares up at them.

“Ace, get up here, you’re on my crew!” Luffy calls out to him.

“Sorry Luffy, you know that’s not happening. Besides, I’d be captain not you.” Ace grins up at his younger brother from the dock.

“No way!” Luffy argues back.

“See?” Ace chuckles softly.

“Anyway… I have a ship of my own, and a crew to get back to Marco and Whitebeard need me. And… Blackbeard is getting away, that just doesn’t sit right with me. I’m going to hunt him down.” Ace says sternly, his fists tensing at his sides. 

The cowboy hat wearing man pauses and looks up at Sanji, his dark eyes flick to Zoro and then back again.

“Take care of him, okay? If you don’t I’ll kill you.” Ace says seriously.

“I hope you would. I’m not going to let any harm come to him, you’ve got my word.” Sanji nods. 

“Well okay then.” The fire fist sighs, pushing the brim of his hat back with one flaming finger. 

“Later!” He calls out and runs off into the night. 

They all stand silently on deck for a few moments before Nami begins barking out orders and the ship sets off into the ocean, taking them away from the law, from the people hunting them and (hopefully) from Blackbeard. 

Chopper pulls Zoro off downstairs into his medical office and though Sanji tries to go with him, Chopper shoos him away and says that it’s private. He worries and frets over Zoro’s injures, both physical and mental. He keeps getting glimpses of the swordsman under that blank nothingness but he keeps slipping away, like water between his fingers. And really… he’d not seen Zoro under there just yet. He’d seen the swordsman and he’d seen a panicked reaction to darkness but Zoro… actual Zoro had yet to be seen. 

He cleans up the dishes from the exhausting dinner that they’d all just had, wiping food from plates and wishing that he could wipe his conscience clear as easily. What would become of him and Zoro now? What if Zoro didn’t come back? What if he was this empty figure that only showed flashes of who Zoro used to be? Or what if he did come back but was so traumatised that he couldn’t bear to be near Sanji? Could Zoro ever love him again? Something deep in his gut aches at that. It’s selfish but he can still remember the smell of Zoro’s skin as they made love, the feel of his body against him, the sounds he made. He doesn’t want that to be just a memory. But if Blackbeard really did torture Zoro as Cabaji recommended… well… Zoro may never want anyone near him again, much less Sanji. 

He sighs and goes below deck, the washing up done. He catches notes of Choppers voice and follows, a bedroom door is open and he peeks around the edge to see Chopper and Zoro inside. 

“You should sleep now Zoro, you might feel better in the morning.” Chopper instructs, pulling the covers over him. The little doctor seems to sense his presence, his ears twitching and his gaze turning to take Sanji in. The doctor sighs, strokes a hoof over Zoro’s hair before walking quietly to the door. 

“How…” Sanji begins quietly. 

“Not good. His injuries are extensive, but manageable, his mind however… I’ve seen no sign that Zoro is really in there. What we saw tonight may have been exceptional. He’s showing no reflexes to pain or even any indication that he hears any of the questions that I ask him.” The doctor sighs, fear coils tightly in Sanji’s gut. 

“Can… can I stay here with him? Someone should keep an eye on him right?” Sanji offers, unable to take his eyes off of Zoro long enough to put the request to Chopper with any amount of eye contact.

“Sure, just be careful not to spook him and get me if you need me.” Chopper says gently, patting Sanji on the leg and leaving. 

The thought occurs to him that Chopper might be trying to fix his pain as much as he is Zoro’s, clever kid. He moves into the room and shuts the door behind him, the soft lamp throwing a warm glow around the room. He sits down on the edge of the bed, Zoro is on his side, staring at nothing still. 

Sanji picks up Zoro’s limp hand and studies it, the feel of the rough calloused palm, the long strong fingers, they bend gently under his touch as he runs the pads of his fingers over them.

“I know it’s stupid, but I’m having kind of a hard time believing that this is real. I thought I’d never see you alive again…” He says quietly to Zoro, tracing a finger along Zoro’s life line on his palm. 

"You saved us all when you stabbed that bastard you know, but I'm sorry if I upset you with what I said before you did it." He says softly, running his fingers over the angular bones of Zoro's wrists. They're still a little raw from where Chopper cut the cuffs off.

"I do love you, you know. It's so stupid but I never said it until they took you from me, I was scared you might not feel the same. But I love you." He says regretfully, running his finger along the inside of Zoro's wrist.

"I wish I hadn't been so stupid, that I'd got to you sooner." He sighs and turns to look at Zoro's blank expression. Only... Zoro's expression isn't blank; he's watching him with one gold-flecked eye. There's not much of an expression there but Zoro is watching him.

"Zoro?" He questions hopefully. Zoro's fingers slide into his.

"I don't care if I'm dreaming or not." Zoro says, his voice rough and uneven like he's not used it in some time. Zoro pulls on his arm and pulls Sanji into the bed with him. He pulls him against his front and presses his forehead to Sanji's cheek.

"I don't care if I've lost my mind, just keep talking." Zoro chokes out.

Sanji isn't the sort of man to refuse a request like that. He wraps his arm around Zoro and kicks his shoes off onto the floor. He tells Zoro that he missed him, he tells him about the ship, about all the cool little places it has in it, he speaks about the kitchen. He does his best to keep off of subjects that might upset Zoro like the torture, or how being away from Zoro and knowing what happened hurt him, he keeps away from the subject of Zoro getting better. So he speaks about inane shit because every time he stops talking, even just to get a drink from the glass by the bed or to collect his thoughts he feels Zoro start to tense by his side, he feels Zoro's hand clutch tightly to his shirt as if he might vanish. So he talks until his throat is raw and Zoro's slow even breathing speaks of the deepest of sleep. Only then with Zoro safe against him and relaxed can Sanji sleep too.


	24. Chapter 24

The big question is how does someone go back to who they were after they’ve been tortured? How can you put yourself back together? How long does it take? How does it work?

The short answer is you don’t. You can’t. Not really.

 

The first day that Zoro wakes up on the ship he spends most of it watching Sanji out of the corner of his eye, as if expecting him to disappear. Zoro prowls around the entire ship, searching in every room and crawlspace for… something, Sanji doesn’t know what. He’s jumpy as all fuck and Franky has a black eye within three hours of Zoro waking up, for such a big guy Franky sure can walk quietly and apparently Zoro really doesn’t like being startled. 

When Sanji brings him his first proper meal since waking up Zoro gives him the most suspicious look that Sanji’s ever seen. 

“What?” He asks, crouching down to where Zoro’s sitting, the dish still in his hand. 

“I’m not sure if you’re real or not.” The swordsman says suspiciously and gives him a shifty look with his one remaining eye. 

“I get that, but I am. Real that is.” Sanji answers quietly, taking a drag on his cigarette to calm his nerves. He really doesn’t need Zoro deciding that the world isn’t real and shutting himself off from it. 

“You’d say that whether you were or not though.” Zoro says with a shrug.

Sanji tries to come up with some clever way that he can prove that he’s real to Zoro, but nothing comes to mind. If he tells Zoro something that he already knows about him then Zoro will just say that he’s a hallucination so of course he knows everything that Zoro knows. If he tells Zoro something about himself that Zoro doesn’t know then he’ll just say that he’s made it up and he’s still not real. He can’t win.

“Oatmeal?” Sanji offers, holding out the bowl. Zoro nods but doesn’t take the bowl from his hand and actually edges away when Sanji holds it closer to him. Sanji frowns and puts it on the floor between them, it’s only then that Zoro picks it up and eats. 

This is how Sanji learns the first two rules of Zoro’s, don’t surprise Zoro and don’t touch Zoro. 

The third thing that Sanji learns is never to let Zoro be in the dark. At night time on deck there were lanterns and the men’s bunkroom is always dimly lit, no matter what time of day. If Zoro is suddenly plunged into darkness he’ll panic and completely lose it, 

Within the first week Chopper learns rule four. The smell of bleach or antiseptic really puts Zoro on edge, combine that with a small room that he feels trapped in and you have a very bad situation. The smell of bleach and metal makes even Sanji’s mind flash back to the dark dungeon that he ran through to find Zoro, it makes him remember the bandaged injuries that Zoro had when he found him. Blackbeard had looked after Zoro’s injuries, if only so that he could continue to torture him without him getting sick. Zoro’s dressings are changed on deck in the sunlight from then on.

At first everyone had more or less abides by the rules. But after two weeks Sanji sees Nami and Zoro leaning against each other and reading a book, which is okay he supposes, they’d been friends since childhood. Then Luffy had been allowed to touch Zoro, which is… acceptable Sanji admits, Luffy touches everyone and everything he can get his hands on, the boy seems incapable of having a conversation with someone without slapping his hand on their back, jostling their shoulder or making contact in some way. 

But now it had been three months and everyone but Sanji got to touch Zoro casually from time to time, as long as they didn’t surprise him by it. Aside from the first night on the ship where Zoro had slept in the same bed as him, pressed close and holding on tight to Sanji as if he might disappear… except for that he’s not touched Zoro at all. 

Oh, he’s tried. But if he gets close to Zoro the other man with subtly lean away or walk off, it’s as if Zoro has this big bubble of space around him that everyone but him is allowed in. It hurts but Sanji expects it somewhere in his soul. It’s his fault that Zoro was in there in the first place, it was his relationship with Zoro that got him tortured and taken from him, why on earth would Zoro want to make the same mistake twice? He was lucky that Zoro hadn’t slit his throat open with a kitchen knife yet, he should be grateful for that much. 

Just after the three month mark though Zoro slides into the kitchen and leans on the door so that it shuts, that makes Sanji rise an eyebrow, Zoro almost never shuts himself in a room unless it’s the bathroom, he doesn’t like being closed in. 

“Hey.” He calls out cautiously to Zoro.

“Hey.” Zoro answers back quietly. Zoro’s eye flicks to the half done dishes in the sink and the still wet plates drying in the rack.

“Need a hand?” He asks, stepping forward and snagging a dish towel from the counter top. 

“Sure.” Sanji says, feeling curious but not about to stop Zoro by any means. 

Zoro slides in against the sink next to him. They’re not touching, but… they’re closer than they’ve been since the night of the rescue. He’s so close that he can feel the warmth coming off of Zoro’s body. He glances down at Zoro’s hands as they carefully wipe the dish dry with the cloth, his sleeves are rolled up to keep them dry and Sanji would be blind to miss the slightly pink bands around Zoro’s wrists where the shackles rubbed his skin raw. 

Zoro’s whole body is tense, like he’s fighting to keep still and not bolt, he can see Zoro’s fingers shaking ever so slightly as he dries another dish. Is he scaring Zoro?

“Look, you don’t have to do this if you-” Sanji starts.

“Shut up.” Zoro cuts him up. 

With a shaky sigh he puts the dish down gingerly and bites his lip. Zoro opens his eye again and gives Sanji an assessing look.

“Just… shut up.” Zoro mutters again. 

Sanji’s about to say something, to apologise for speaking at all when Zoro steps right into his space and grabs him by his tie. He should be expecting a punch, but Zoro’s body language is all wrong for that, he’s tense, sure, but not in a violent way. Zoro pulls him forward and presses their lips together. 

Zoro slants his mouth just so and properly kisses Sanji. It’s so gentle and honest that the whole thing cuts deep into Sanji’s heart and pulls out everything that he’d told himself was never going to happen again. He’d assumed that Zoro would never want this again, that because Zoro never touched him or even seemed to want to be near him that the two of them were over. He’d taken all his memories of being with Zoro and all his dreams of what could have been and locked them up inside himself, telling himself that it was never going to happen. 

But with one gentle, hopeful, careful kiss… Zoro’s pulled it all to the surface again. He moans quietly against Zoro’s mouth and doesn’t miss the amused quirk of Zoro’s lips and the sudden flash of teeth against him that accompanies the quiet laugh against his lips. Zoro leans in a little closer, pressing their chests together and biting Sanji’s lower lip before sliding his tongue into Sanji’s all too willing mouth. 

Sanji’s hands are hovering near Zoro’s sides, itching to touch him but not daring to. He’s sure he’d actually die if he frightened Zoro away from this, it’s too much to lose again. 

Zoro seems to sense his thoughts and tugs Sanji’s right hand against his side, Sanji immediately flattens his palm against Zoro’s warm body, ghosting up his ribs and pulling and pleased shiver from the swordsman’s frame. Zoro kisses him a little deeper, heating Sanji’s blood and making him realise just how much he’s needed Zoro since they were separated. 

Sanji lets his other hand come up to Zoro’s neck and strokes in one smooth unbroken stroke from the top of Zoro’s back to his hairline, his touch uninterrupted for the first time, he doesn’t have to negotiate around that awful collar any more. 

“Ohh… do that again.” Zoro breathes, breaking their kiss and leaning back into Sanji’s touch, his eyes shut and his expression blissed out. 

Sanji smiles and strokes the soft skin of Zoro’s neck, there’s a paler band of skin around there, skin that’s only so recently seen sunlight again after so long. A dark blush is starting to stain Zoro’s cheeks and Sanji is pretty sure that he could do this forever. 

He hadn’t realised that his other hand was wandering up Zoro’s back underneath his shirt until it comes against something unfamiliar. A ridge of healing skin runs lengthways along Zoro’s back about halfway up, his fingers chase the unfamiliar line in confusion. It’s easily longer than Sanji’s hand and is fainter in the dip of muscle where Zoro’s spine runs, though it’s still there. What is that? He’d run his hands all over Zoro’s body before and never found th-

Unbidden the wall of whips and crops flashes behind Sanji’s eyes. His mind instantly joins the dots and places Zoro in the manacles that were on the wall, he sees Blackbeard’s hand bringing down the weapon with a snap and ripping a scream from Zoro’s mouth. At the same time his other hand brushes against the still healing cut, the mark that Blackbeard had left on Zoro when he made him lean into his blade, just to prove to Sanji how much he’d broken Zoro. 

Zoro’s body is tense under his hands and both of them are holding their breath. He tries to shake the image free from his head and look Zoro in the eye but the second that he does his mind reminds him that he is the reason that Zoro only has the one eye now. He doesn’t want to look because he can see the pain in Zoro’s expression, but like watching a train wreck his eyes are drawn to the long vertical scar over where Zoro’s other eye used to be, across the eyelid that will never open again all because of him.

Zoro shoves back away from him, breathing again now but in harsh breaths that speak of fear instead of excitement from a kiss. Zoro turns and bolts from the room, the door slamming loudly behind him. 

“Zoro! No, wait!” He calls, but the swordsman is long gone. 

After that Zoro doesn’t even come within two feet of him again, much less touching him at all. Sanji hates himself, after all he’s done to Zoro the other man was still willing to go out on a limb and trust him and he failed right away. Zoro had trusted him again and he’d fucked it up, again. They don’t speak about the kiss and instead return to a wary relationship with far too much time spent on both their parts watching the other out of the corner of their eye. 

 

A little over four months from the rescue and a whole month since their ill fated kiss, he and Zoro are innocently finishing up cleaning the kitchen when Chopper bursts in and shuts the door behind him.

“I’ve had enough!” Chopper yells, throwing his little hooves in the air. Sanji watches as Zoro lets the tension drain back out of his body and releases his vice like grip he’d suddenly developed on the dish rag since Chopper burst in, he doesn’t like being surprised.

“Of what?” Zoro asks, his voice flat and quiet. 

“Of you two! Sit down, you there and you there!” Chopper snaps, pulling them both to the ground on opposite sides of the galley but facing each other.

“Here.” Chopper adds, putting a tennis ball in Zoro’s hands as well before trotting off to sit down against the door with a scowl. 

“Uh… are you feeling okay Chopper?” Sanji asks warily, eyeing the little doctor. 

“Why am I holding a tennis ball?” Zoro asks holding it up and raising an eyebrow. 

“You both need therapy and I’m sick of watching the two of you blunder about without it pretending you’re both fine! I’m trying to make things better but you two keep hurting each other all over again!” Chopper snaps. 

“…and you need to work on your depth perception before I let you have your swords back.” The reindeer adds, flicking his eyes back down to the ball in Zoro’s hands. 

Zoro gives Chopper an unimpressed look, it’s so similar to one of his old expressions that it makes Sanji’s heart ache. Sanji acknowledges that the man that he pulled from Blackbeard’s dungeon is not the man that went in there. That Zoro is gone forever. But… Zoro in a kind of undefined changeable sort of way is still here. Sometimes it’ll be a look that he has, like the unimpressed “why are you wasting my time with this shit” look that he’s giving Chopper now. Or sometimes he’ll hear it in one of those rare times that someone will make Zoro laugh. Zoro is still in there, but he’s different too. 

This Zoro still trains the same as the old Zoro (religiously), he still eats the same way and enjoys the same food, he’s still as unlikely to make requests for particular foods no matter how much Sanji pesters him for it. Zoro is still the same stubborn bastard he was before, he’s still as gentle as he was before and his protective streak that was already a mile wide seems to have actually broadened. 

But… some things are different. Chopper had warned them all when Zoro started coming back to life that there were symptoms that people who had experienced torture were likely to display. Irritability, mood swings and violence were just a few, Nami had pointed out that she wasn’t sure how she’d know the difference from before, to which Zoro punched her in the arm and called her an ass. That was the first time Zoro had smiled since they escaped, those smiles were fleeting and rare but they were happening a little more frequently. 

But Zoro had gone through therapy with Chopper as soon as he was talking again, long drawn out sessions that left both of them looking wrung out and unhappy. It’d seemed to make everything a lot worse before it got better, but he had started getting better. Whilst the pieces of what Zoro was would never fit back together in quite the same way he was still Zoro and he was starting to fit back together well. 

“I’ve done therapy, and you still keep dragging me into it twice a week, so what’s the big deal? And there’s nothing wrong with my depth perception.” Zoro adds irritably and throws the ball at Sanji. He catches it but Zoro’s aim is a little off.

“You have one eye now, by definition your depth perception is skewed.” Chopper answers. 

“He’s got a point, especially if you’re going to be waving around three swords.” Sanji agrees and throws the ball at Zoro. Zoro swipes the air for it but misses so the tennis ball smacks him straight in the forehead. Sanji puts up a valiant but ultimately fruitless effort to not laugh. 

“Fucker.” Zoro snaps and hurls the ball back at Sanji, he keeps still and grins smugly as it bounces off of the wall by his head. Zoro manages to catch it this time as it bounces back but his scowl is still deeply in place. 

“See, this is what I’m talking about. You’re acting like everything is fine when it’s not. You two need therapy, together. You were both tortured with the idea of what was happening to the other, trying to help you separately hasn’t worked.” Chopper adds quietly. 

Zoro picks at the yellow fuzz on the tennis ball and stays quiet. 

“I’ll stay if it helps Zoro but I don’t need therapy Chopper, I wasn’t-” He cuts himself off. The word tortured simply sticks in his throat. Bringing with it the mental images of Zoro chained, Zoro with bleeding gashes on his back from the whip, Zoro’s scream over the phone, his eye in a box.

He still has nightmares, he wakes up sweating in his hammock, shaking in terror as nightmares cling to his skin. He dreams of Blackbeard catching up to them and taking Zoro again, or finding Zoro dead, or imagining what happened to Zoro. He has visions of Zoro’s pain flashing behind his eyes at night, he wakes with Zoro’s scream in his ears and has to roll over to check that Zoro is indeed alive and well in his own hammock. 

He catches the ball that bounces at him out of reflex, Zoro is frowning at him.

“You disappeared.” Zoro says in a faintly accusatory way. 

“Sorry, spaced out.” He mutters and throws the ball back. That keeps happening to him at the moment, he’ll get caught in a cycle of thoughts about what happened to Zoro or what could have happened and then he ends up losing a chunk of time. 

“That’s a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, something both of you- and most torture survivors- have.” Chopper points out academically from his place at the door. 

“And I told you I wasn’t tortured.” Sanji says, choking a little on the last word. 

“What’s wrong with you?!” Zoro shouts loudly, startling Sanji. His face is genuinely angry as he speaks.

“HE cut out my eye and sent it to you, he ripped me apart so he could send you bits of me in boxes, he called you when he- I heard what that did to you, idiot! You were tortured just the same as I was!” Zoro shouts angrily, pointing a shaking finger at him, his other hand clenched into a fist. 

Sanji’s eyes flick to Zoro’s missing eye, the scar that runs from forehead to cheek straight down, the eyelid that will be forever shut. His line of sight then darts to Zoro’s ear, where three still healing cuts mark the place where his earrings used to be. At the moment they’re in a box in the boy’s bunkroom, Franky says that after Zoro’s ears heal he can get them re-pierced if he wants, he’ll even do it himself. His eyes then drop to the red knife mark along Zoro’s throat, where Blackbeard had made Zoro lean on his blade just to prove to Sanji what he’d done. 

“It’s not the same as what happened to you. Those things happened to you, that was- but not me. I wasn’t-” Sanji says, shaking his head and throwing the ball back to Zoro. 

“Blackbeard certainly tortured Zoro, there’s no doubt about that Sanji. But the way in which he did it was so performative, it was entirely aimed at showing you the results to cause you anguish. He succeeded in that.” The doctor says softly, his big brown eyes regarding Sanji gently. 

“It wasn’t torture.” he answers defiantly. 

“Why are you so certain? Or is it that you can’t stand to be a weak victim, like me?” Zoro asks, his voice dangerously calm. 

“What?! You’re not weak! Don’t you dare say that! You’re the only person who he tortured that managed to keep their sanity, that’s strength!” Sanji shouts, furious that Zoro could think such a thing of himself. 

“I don’t think I’m weak, idiot. But I think you think that you are, or that if you admit you’re a victim too then you have to be weak.” Zoro says flatly and flings the ball back at Sanji. 

“It’s nothing to do with that goddamnit.” He denies, catching it and glaring at the fuzzy yellow ball in his hands. 

“Then what makes you so special? Why is it torture when it’s me but not if it’s you huh?” the swordsman demands, his fists tightly clenched at his sides.

“It’s not- it’s just different okay!” he argues back louder than Zoro, they’re both shouting by now. Chopper isn’t intervening though, perhaps he thinks that this is healthy or productive or some shit like that. 

“HOW?! Come on! Tell me!” Zoro yells, kneeling up on his knees now, as if he can hardly restrain himself from coming over there and punching the answer out of Sanji. 

“BECAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!” Sanji screams. 

It’s funny how unaware you can be of how quiet the ship usually is until you say something like that and everything seems to go quiet. Sanji can’t even hear the waves outside, there’s no noise at all as Zoro just stares at him, his mouth slightly open.

“What?” Zoro manages in the smallest, quietest voice that Sanji’s ever heard.

“It was my fault! I opened my stupid mouth in court and you got taken away to him. If I wasn’t such an idiot then none of this would have happened, you wouldn’t have got hurt! But I was, and you did! It’s my fault that you’re covered in scars, it’s my fault you’ve only got one eye now- I might as well have done it myself! And however Blackbeard made me feel… I deserved it!” He shouts.

He’s shaking now, just saying all of that out loud… he feels like he’s been sick or something. But it’s true, that’s why this haunts him so much, that’s why seeing Zoro hurt wounds him so deeply, because it’s entirely his fault. 

“I don’t know how you can even look at me.” He mumbles, looking down at the floor. 

Sanji tells himself that the only reason he didn’t see Zoro move is because his gaze was averted, because there’s no way Zoro could have moved that fast. One second Zoro is staring at him wide eyed and the next Zoro’s got him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall behind him. He’s hanging at least a foot off of the air, caught between Zoro’s powerful grip and the wall.

“Why you- I ought to punch you so hard your mother will feel it!” Zoro threatens, raising his fist. 

Some churlish part of Sanji wants to point out that a) his mother is dead so there’s no way she could feel it, and b) how would that even work anyway? He doesn’t though and instead lets his eyes close. Maybe if Zoro punches him, maybe if Zoro takes some proper vengeance out on him he can start feeling a little better- not that he deserves to though. 

“You fucker, how can you even be so naïve after everything that’s happened?” Zoro asks quietly, as his grip relaxes and he drops Sanji to his feet. 

“This had nothing to do with you, you unbelievable idiot. None of it was your fault.” Zoro sighs, running a hand through his hair. 

“Are you deaf? If I hadn’t opened my mouth in court-” Sanji protests, he wants Zoro to hit him, he needs it. After what he’s done it’s the least he deserves.

“If you hadn’t opened your big mouth in court and accidentally given me up then it still would have happened! You think your father and Blackbeard were waiting until you stupidly said something that made it all nice and legal? Were you not paying attention to them at ALL?!” Zoro snaps, interrupting him.

“If you hadn’t done that then they would have grabbed me off of the street, or taken me in the night, or bankrupted you and forced you to sell be back. Heck, maybe they would have just cut my head off and left it in your bed like the goddamn Godfather movies! Sanji, nothing you could have done would have made a difference, this wasn’t you.” Zoro says, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. 

“But I should have got you out of there sooner, I should have done it right away!” he says quietly. Zoro looks at him sadly, with a frown forming on his face.

“Is this what’s been going on in your head this whole time? Is this why you’ve been so weird with me? You’ve been looking at me like you can’t stand to be near me, like being near me hurts you. I’ve been trying to keep my distance but… is this all because you’re convinced that this is your fault?” Zoro asks him, his hand reaching out and stroking at Sanji’s cheek. The touch is oh so gentle and it makes some treacherous part of Sanji’s rotten heart sing for it. 

“I’m not convinced of anything! It is my fault, you’re just… trying to be nice. I should have got you out right away.” Sanji insists, shaking Zoro’s hand from him. Zoro makes a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and punches Sanji in the temple, its light but still enough to hurt.

“Moron, you’d have been killed. The only reason you weren’t when you did rescue me is because you created one hell of a distraction for Spandam and showed up with an army when Blackbeard was sure that he’d destroyed you.” The marimo grumbles. 

“You’re wrong, you’re just…” Sanji says shaking his head, it can’t be true, he knows it’s his fault. He knows it.

“Chopper, help me out here!” Zoro yells, turning to the doctor. Sanji looks, he’d almost forgotten that the reindeer was there at all. 

Sanji’s leaning against the wall with his whole body shaking, though from what Sanji can’t quite place. Chopper looks at them both gently and Sanji starts to get perhaps why Chopper thinks that they needed to do this, the fact that Zoro could think that he was… what? Disgusted by him? That he didn’t want him around? It’s ludicrous!

His mind flashes to the time that Zoro came in and kissed him and he tries to see it from Zoro’s side. The swordsman had come in here, into what was obviously Sanji’s territory and risked kissing him, perhaps in the hope of winning him back if he thought that he’d lost him. It’d all been going fine until he’d gone and run his hands over Zoro’s scars. Zoro must have thought that… god, he doesn’t know what he thinks Zoro thought of his reaction. But it hadn’t been repulsed by him, he’d been struck by guilt, by the sense that it was him that had done this to Zoro. But Zoro… Zoro didn’t know that, so he’d run off. 

“Zoro… what would you do if you saw Blackbeard again? If he walked right into this room?” Chopper asks carefully. 

Sanji would have to be blind not to see the way Zoro flinches away from that question, as if the very idea of Blackbeard being in here frightens him. His eye flicks to Sanji’s knife block and then back to Chopper. 

“I’d cut his fucking heart out of his chest and show it to him right before he died.” Zoro spits angrily.

“Or- or gut him like a fish, from balls to brains. No, maybe I’d drown him, or set him on fire or-” Zoro continues, shaking from rage, his fists snapping open and shut as if he could wring Blackbeard’s neck right now if only he could do it hard enough.

“We get your point. So Sanji… do you really think that if Zoro thought you were in any way responsible you’d be standing there?” Chopper asks him, turning his gaze back to him. 

Sanji’s mouth opens and shuts. It’s a simple question really. If Zoro… if he thought that it was his fault- and Zoro would know, Zoro had to know… But he was here, the swordsman hadn’t cut his throat out or put his head on a pike or… or anything!

“You saved me, you idiot. I don’t hate you, I owe you.” Zoro grumbles, still looking tense from Chopper’s earlier question. 

“Oh.” 

And that’s all he can say, because really… what else could he say?

“Right, Sanji you’ll see me Tuesdays and Saturdays, Zoro you’ll be Wednesdays and Sundays. And you’re not getting your swords back until you can catch that reliably.” Chopper announces, standing up and leaving the room with one last gesture to the forgotten tennis ball. 

 

Therapy is not fun. Therapy is in fact the opposite of fun. It makes him feel crazy and miserable and anxious. Apparently he has something called “survivor’s guilt” as well as some kind of traumatic stress something-or-other. All he knows is that it makes him feel crap whenever he has to talk about it.

It doesn’t help that every time he and Zoro fuck things up it sets them both back weeks. Accidentally spooking Zoro makes him feel guilty which makes Zoro angry which makes him feel worse, it spirals from there. But when things go right… well… apparently kissing Zoro breathless makes them both significantly happier people. 

 

Zoro isn’t allowed his swords back until he can prove that his hand eye co ordination has got better. The swordsman seems to be going through more and more elaborate efforts to prove that he’s fine, Sanji suspects that Chopper has deliberately given Zoro something achievable to focus on to stop him dwelling on the therapy. Which is why three weeks after Sanji was ordered to start therapy Zoro is sitting on the dining table juggling apples whilst everyone else talks over coffee. It’s been sweltering on the ship all week but Zoro is still wearing a black long sleeved shirt and his big boots, they look dumb with the shorts that he’s got on but it manages to cover all of his scars. 

“So we’re coming up on Alabaster next, it’s a summer island, that’s why it’s so hot right now.” Nami says, fanning her lovely self with a pale hand. She’s wearing the tiniest crop top that Sanji’s ever seen and itty bitty shorts in deference to the heat, whilst his heart belongs only to Zoro his eyes… well… they’re a little freer. 

“That name sounds familiar.” Zoro remarks, throwing one apple up so high that it arcs over a low hanging ceiling beam and drops right back down into his open hand.

“It should, it’s where Vivi said her family were from.” Nami offers. Zoro’s juggling the apples behind his back now. 

“I wonder if we’ll see anyone who knows her.” Zoro says thoughtfully as he juggles with his eyes shut. Sanji watches, admittedly impressed as Zoro throws the apple right up in the air, eyes shut, and catches it between his teeth at the same time as the other two land in each hand. 

“Fine, you can have your swords back. If only so I don’t have to keep worrying about what you’ve been doing with the fruit.” Chopper mutters, shaking his head.

“FUCK YES!” Zoro yells perfectly clearly around the apple somehow. 

“It’s a big country though, I doubt anyone will know Vivi.” Nami sighs, ignoring the whole fruit issue entirely. 

 

Vivi is apparently an actual princess, a princess whose country needs rescuing, so they help out of course. The whole affair involves a lot of fighting, overthrowing a coup and fighting some nutbag made out of sand. Said crazy person apparently knew Robin way back when and it seems like she got a lot of her money from him, something this Crocodile guy wasn’t too pleased about. Either way, Zoro got to cut a lot of people with his swords for the first time in a long time, which made him happy enough to make Chopper consider taking them back for his mental well being. Zoro looks serious with his swords after that but Sanji doesn’t buy it. 

Several days, one long battle and a massive party later he’s walking through the guest room in Vivi’s palace towards the balcony that Zoro headed out to a few hours ago. The other man is asleep on a long lounge chair, warmed by the dying sun as day turns slowly into night. Sanji pauses and looks at Zoro, really looks at him.

He’s laying there, face down, his head turned to the side with his scarred eye exposed. Where his skin was previously covered completely he’s now naked except for his boxers. Along the once perfect bronze skin is a crisscross of scars and marks, burns and cuts, whip marks and the ghost of manacles against Zoro’s skin. He sees the twin cuts around Zoro’s ankles, the injury that he heard being made over the phone, where Blackbeard cut deep into Zoro’s skin and made him scream. Zoro is scarred and damaged, Blackbeard has left his mark on Zoro’s body and his mind, that much is undeniable. 

But… in the warm red glow of the sunset and with the peace of sleep making his body relaxed… he’s still gorgeous. Those marks on Zoro are a part of who his is now, but they’re not all of him, Zoro is still beautiful and strong- he always was. 

“Hey.” Sanji says softly, stroking a hand through Zoro’s hair. He realises his mistake as soon as he makes it, he shouldn’t startle Zoro awake. But instead of panicking Zoro just opens his eye sleepily and gives him a lazy grin.

“Hey.” Zoro echoes and stretches catlike before sitting up. 

“It’s actually kind of nice weather here when it’s not so blisteringly hot.” Zoro smiles at him, gentle and warm. 

Sanji opens his mouth, he really should say something smart. He should talk about the weather, or say something about their trip, or the palace, he should say something. Instead he leans down and tilts Zoro’s jaw up and kisses him thoroughly. 

A mixture of his own lust and Zoro’s pulling hands guide him into sitting in Zoro’s lap. Zoro’s hands hold him tight, as if he doesn’t want to let him go, which is ridiculous because there’s nowhere that Sanji would rather be. 

He kisses Zoro a little harder, a little more urgently perhaps and runs his hands down Zoro’s bare back. He feels Zoro pause and hold his breath, but Sanji continues stroking down his back, loving the way he can feel every one of Zoro’s muscles tense and flex under his touch. Of course he notes the pattern of marks and scars on Zoro’s back but for the first time it doesn’t really bother him, he’s more focused in the fact that he’s in Zoro’s lap and he’s nearly naked than he is about Zoro’s marks. 

He nibbles the edge of Zoro’s jaw and noses his recently replaced earrings, liking their soft chime as they move. Zoro hums in happiness, it’s more of a soft vibration through his throat that Sanji can feel than it is a noise. The marimo pulls at Sanji’s shirt and Sanji happily complies with raising his arms so that Zoro can pull it right off of him over his head. 

He tangles his hands in Zoro’s short hair as the other man’s hands find their way to Sanji’s scars. It had taken him a few days and an infection to notice that when he’d escaped his destroyed house he’d not only broken his collar bone but rubbed parts of his back and arms raw as he’d pulled himself from the rubble. At the time he’d been too concerned about Zoro and then too consumed with planning his escape, it was only when Zoro was safe on the ship and the itch of the infection was too much to bear that he let Chopper look at it. The poor little reindeer flipped out and tried to patch him up as best he could, but the marks are still there. Sanji quite likes them actually, for him it’s reminder that he was too strong to be killed, and in a way he knows that he left part of himself in the rubble of his old home, and not just skin and blood. 

Zoro’s fingers linger there though, at the particularly rough scar at the place where Sanji’s neck becomes his back and Sanji has to kiss him to distract him. 

“I know that… things aren’t ever going to be the same as before.” Sanji breathes against Zoro’s mouth.

“I’m not the same… you’re not the same. But I love you, you stupid marimo haired idiot.” He says quietly and kisses Zoro again. 

“How can you manage to be romantic and insulting at the same time?” Zoro snorts and bites Sanji’s lip hard enough to pull a whine from him.

“I’m just special, I guess.” He gasps against Zoro’s skin as the other man gropes his ass shamelessly.

“That’s one word for it.” Zoro says with a chuckle. 

“You haven’t said that you love me yet, bastard.” Sanji points out, grinding his hips into Zoro. 

“I’m not going to stroke your ego, cook.” The swordsman says flatly and bites Sanji’s neck, chasing the impressing right after with his tongue. 

“What are you going to stroke?” he asks breathlessly as Zoro pulls him down onto the sun lounger with him, the swordsman’s body held above his. Sanji lets his hands run unhindered across the expanse of Zoro’s body offered to him. 

“Whatever I want.” Zoro answers argumentatively and runs his hand up Sanji’s leg. 

Sanji decides to open his dumb mouth again because, apparently, he’s an idiot.

“So we’re okay?” He asks softly. Zoro’s hand stills on his thigh, his thumb thoughtfully tapping the inseam of Sanji’s trousers. Zoro pushes himself up on his other arm and looks down at Sanji. 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Zoro agrees. 

He flashes a grin at Sanji that makes the cook worry slightly about what Zoro is planning. True enough the swordsman catches Sanji’s wrists and pulls them over his head. 

“You know why?” Zoro asks into Sanji’s ear as he presses the trapped cook against the lounger. 

“Why?” Sanji asks, shifting his hips against Zoro’s and biting his lip in happiness at what he can feel resting against his hip.

“Because you’re all mine.” Zoro purrs and rolls their hips together, making sparks of pleasure flash in Sanji’s vision.

“I can live with that.” Sanji grins back at him.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [SUPEDITAT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/854622) by [Chaneta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaneta/pseuds/Chaneta)




End file.
